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ncl L /£'0^ , 5'
HARVARD
COLLEGE
LIBRARY
THE
MEGHA DUTA;
OR
CLOUD MESSENGER:
A POEM.
THE
MEGHA DUTA;
II
OR
CLOUB MESSENGER;
9 Poem,
IN THE SANSCRIT LANGUAGE
BY CALIDASA.
TRANSLATED INTO EN6LISB rSRSEy WITH
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS :
BY HORACE HAYMAN WILSON,
AuMimit Surgev in the Service qf the Honourable EoMt-JwUa Company,
and Secretary to the Ariatic Society,
PUBLISHED UNDER THE SANCTION OF THE COLLEGE
OP FORT WILLIAM.
CALCUTTA printed:
JbONDON : REPRINTED FOR BLkCti, PARRT> AND CO., BOOK-
SELLERS TO THE HONOURABLE EAST-INDIA COMPANY^
LBADENHALL STREET.
1814.
XvMi L i^ci.r
t/
X
I I
Printed by Cok and BayUa* Great Qaeea Street,
Llnco1n*«-Inn Fieldtt
ADVERTISEMENT.
The very high panegyric bestowed on Mr. Horace
Wilson's Translation of the *^ M6gka DutCy or Cloud
Messenger/' in the Discourse delivered by the Right
Honourable Lord Minto, to the Students of the Col-
lege of Fort William in Bengal, on the SOth September
1813, has induced the Publishers to reprint the English
Translation, that the Public may be acquainted with
this ancient Sanscrit Poem by C a'l i d a's a.
TO THE
RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF MENTO^
Govrntioa ommmL or india,
4*c. S^c. Sfc.
My LoRDy
J HAVE taken the liberiy of giving to the following
little work the sanction of your Lordship* i name: not voUh
the ideay thai so humble a tribute can add any thing to its
lustre ; but with tie hbpe^ that it ifidy reflect some credit
upon the pages (0 Miich H is pr6fij:€d.
New to public dfttictsffi, dnd reasonably ambitious of
piSUe cpproDdtj 1 dm naturally anxious to introduce this
first production of my literary labours j under tie most eligible
auspicesy to the notice of the Tmrld; and I am confident
that the countenance of one who lias always professed
himself an encourager of letters^ and who is knozon to merit
the palm which he bestows^ wUl ensure me, in the first in*
stance at least^ afawurable reception.
It must be a matter of indifference to Society y and
stiU more so to your Lordship^ that an unimportant indrou
dual fbauU expreu his adndraiion of the Jimmtss mtd
energy which India has zpUnessed in your Lordship* s polili'
eal career f and which hate been so successfully exerted in
suppressing itUemal cammotianj and prosecuting foreign
conquest: I am unwilling hozoever to pass over the present
opportunity of joining in the voice of an English public^
and applauding the justice that has crowned your Ijordship*s
admtdstration of the East^ ztith the dignities of Great
Britain*
Wishing that the country^ to which your Lordship^s
services are about to be transferred, may long continue to
benefit by themy
J have the honour to be.
Your LORD8MIP*8
Most cbedient Servant,
H. H. WILSON.
Calcutta,
lUh September, 1813.
PREFACE.
The antiquity and excellence of the sacred Ian-
guage • of the Hindus^ have naturally attracted
attention, and excited curiosity* Possessii^ consi-
derable claims to be regarded as the most ancient
jform of speech with which mankind is acquainted/
it appeals strongly to the interest that invests the
early ages of the world ; and constructed upon
perhaps the most perfect plan which human in*
genuity has devised, it tempts us to an inquiry,
whether its perfection be limited by its structure,
or whether the merits of Hindu compositions
partake, or not, of the beauty of the language
in which they are composed.
It has fallen to the lot of the English nation
especially, to prosecute these inquiries, and the
result has been conformable to the patriotic wish
X PREFACE.
of Sir Wm. Jones, that as the continental na-
tions of Europe had been the most diligent culti-
vators of the other oriental tongues, the merit of
Sanscrit research might chiefly belong to his own
countrymen. Influenced by his advice and ex-
ample, his countrymen have laboured with no con-
temptible success, in this interesting pursuit, ilnd
have rendered the language and literature oi thi»
division of the East accessible to the world. The
efforts of Sanscrit scholars have hitherto, however,
been directed rather to the useful than the pkas-
hig, rather to works of science than imagiimtion^
The complicated grammar of the Hindus has been
most successftiUy investigated, their mythology
amply illustrated, and rn^cb of their philosophy
satisfactorily explained } their astronomical works
have been exhibited to the philosophers^ ^faose
modem attainments have rendered ancient sdence
an object rather of curiosity than infonbation^
aflnd their kws are no longer concealed behind the
veH of an unknown tongue, from the knowledge
of those who are charged with the
]^REFACS« XI
of justice in Hindoos tan* It only remains, to e3>
plore the field of their lighter literature^ aiod
transfer some of its most elegant flowers to a
European soil.
The Drama of SacontaUij and the songs of Ja^^
YADfiV A, have prepared the readers of the West for
the character of Sanscrit Poetry. To those who
know how much poetical beauty depends upon
poetical expression, it is needless to observe, that
these works have been much injured by a trans-»
lation into prose> although that prose proceeded
from the elegant pen of Sir Wm. Joxes. Even in
this state, however, they have received the adna^
rati(m of the scholars of JEt^ro^;* even in their
present dress it is impossible to avoid discovering,
that they teem with fanciful imagery and natural
feeling, and that beyond the pale of mythological
allusion, they ofkx little to offend the most fasti-'
dious taste.
It has been observed by Mr. CoLEBitoou^t and
* See the Appendix to Robertson's Disquisition on India.
t Sssay on Sanscrit and Pracrit Fros6dy> Asiatic Researclies,
higher authority cannot be desired, that the pro-
fane Poetry of iheHindics affords better specimens
of style and taste, than are to be fdund in the
poems which are considered by them as sacred.
Such are the Purdnas, the MahaVhiraty and the
Rdm&yana: the portions of these works, there-
fore, which, on various occasions, have appeared
before the public, cannot be allowed to detract
from the general merits of Sanscrit composition,
even though it should appear that they have more
charms in the eye of literary curiosity than of
public taste. They are recommended to the Hindus
themselves, not by their beauty or sublimity, the
conduct of the story, or the elegance of the style j
but they owe their celebrity to their traditionary
divineness, to the force of habit, and the power
of religious faith. The stories related in them, the
followers of Brahma' have been accustomed to
venerate, and the excellence of the compositions
it would be sacrilege in them to deny: at the
same time, there are few Pandits of real learning
who would not rather peruse the Megha IhUa
than the PL&m&yanaj there are few who, in the
PREFACB. Xlii
sincerity of unbiassed delight, do not transfer the
palm of poetical pre-eminence from Valmi'ci* to
Ca'lida'sa,
Of the latter of these eminent Bards little is
ascertained by history, though much is detailed
by tradition. He is the real or supposed author of
a number of poetical works, each of which is of
the highest merit. The Drama of Sacontala
is attributed to him, and the text of another of
his works, the Rttu Sanhdra or Assemblage of the
Seasons^ has been printed under the inspection of
Sir Wm. Jones. The present poem is believed
to be the ofispring of his fertile imagination ; and
to the same source are ascribed the Raghu Vansa
or Race of Raghu, an epic poem; Cum&ra Scan-'
Vhxvoaj the birth of the deity Cumara, a poem
chiefly mythological; a regular Drama entitled
Urvasi', the name of one of the courtezans of
Swerga; and a farce called H&sy&tnccocLy or the
Sea of Laughter ; the Sring&ra Tilaca and Prasr
ndttara Mdlc^ two short amatory poems, and ^
^ Author of the Rdrndyanom
XIV PREFACE.
small treatise in verse upon poetical metre, called*^
Sruta B6d^ha» Several other works are said to be
the compositions of Calidasa, many of which it
has been conjectured are attributed to him, merely
in consequence of the reputaticm derived from
those of which he was really the author.
The aera of Ca'lida'sa is generally asserted to
be that of Vicrama'ditya, in whose court he
formed one of the nine illustrious writers, charac-
terised by the epithet of the Nine Gems. As the
name Vicra'maditya, however, has been un-
doubtedly applied to more than to one monarch,
the establishment of this fact leads us to no satis-
factory result, with respect to the age of the poet.
Sir Wm. Jones* conceiving the Vicra'maditya
mentioned, to be the same as the sovereign from
whom the present Hindu year, I87O, is dated,
places the poet in the century preceding the ChriS'^
Uan sera. Mr. Bent ley, t trusting the Bhoja
Prahandha and Ayeen Acheryy conceives Vicra'-
* Preface to Sacontala.
t Essay on iZtndii Ghionology^ Asiatic Researches^ vol. 8.
PREFACE. XT
MADiTYA to have been the same as Rega Vi-
CEAMA* successor to Rqja Bhoja, and places the
Nws Gems in the court of this monarch, in the
^n4 of the llth, or the beginning of the 12th
century after Christ; and Mr. Colebrooke,*
relying chiefly upon the testimony of an inscrip-
tion found at Bud^dha Gay& is inclined to consider
the age of Amera Sinha, author of the Amera
CbshOy to be at least 900 years; and Amera
SiNHA was also one of the Nvne Gems, and con-
sequently a contemporary of Ca'lida'sa, This
last opinion seems entitled to the preference.
To whatever name or period the Clotcd Mes-
^enger may be assigned, it is the production of a
poet. The circumstances of eastern society and
climate tend, in a great measure, to exclude sub-
limity, either moral or physical, from their literary
compositions; but the same circumstances are
favourable to the less awful graces of poetry,
to the ^egantly minute observation of nature,
and the tender expression of natural sensibility.
* FrefaM to the Jm^a Ckha witk Tnoitlatioii.
^Yl PREFACE.
The frowning rock or foaming cataract, the fu-
rious tyrant or undaunted patriot, are not to be
traced in Sanscrit verse ; but we shall frequently
meet with the impassioned lover or affectionate
husband, with the unobtrusive blossoms of the flow-
er and the evanescent tints of the sky. In point of
language /San^criV writers are certainly not surpassed^
and perhaps unequalled, and their style in general
is as full as it is sweet, as majestic as it is harmo-
nious. The exceeding copiousness of the language
sometimes leads them into those tricks of com-
position, which formerly exercised.the misdirected
ingenuity oiEurope^ and puns, and quibbles, and
endless alliteration constitute the stanza. Their
attention also to minute objects sometimes termi-
nates in quaintness and afiectation; but from the
faults of either style or fancy, the subject of our
present inquiry is entirely exempt: tiiere are also
a copiousness and consistency in it, which are not
often paralleled in oriental writings ; a quick suc<i
session of thought and description, which the
title of the work does not lead us to expect, and
a successful avoiding of inconsistency or absurdity.
PREFACE. . XVU
whidi so protracted an apostrophe as forms the
theme of the poem might have induced us to
apprehend. The style of the work is also exceed-
ingly simple, while at the same time it is exqui-
sitely polii^ed. The merits of the work are so
highly appreciated by the Hindus^ that notwith-
standing its shortness, it is classed amongst their
Maha Cdvyas or great poems, and notwithstand-
ing its perspicuity, it is the object of much critical
acumen, and learned elucidation. The manuscript
from which the text of the following pages is
printed, and for which the translator is indebted
to the kindness of Mr. Colebrooke, unites widi
the original, no fewer than six Commentaries, ihfc
respective works of Malli Na't'h, Calyana
Malla, Sana^tana G6swami, Bharata
Haljlica, Ra'mana't'h TERCAiLANCAlaA and
Hara G6vinda VaIchespati.
In the conversion of the M6gha Data into
JSmgUsh the translator has in general endeavored
to avoid being licentious, without attempting to
be literal: the idioms of Ihe languages are too
B
XVm PREFACE.
different to admit of a very, precise transfusion of
the one into the other, and it has been more the
object of the following translation to render
thoughts,, than words. With a few exceptions,
however, most of which are specified in the notes,
it is believed that the ideas of GaIlida^sa, will be
found conveyed with tolerable fidelity. To the
English reader, whose critical sagacity may dis-
cover, that the number of lines in the translation
is nearly double the amount of those of the ori-
ginal, it may be suflScient to observe, that this
excess is balanced by the number of syllables, of
which one line of Sanscrit contains nearly double
the syllables of which one line oi English consists^
and that the little connective particles, which
take up much space in the translation,, are in a
great measure unknown to the readily-compoundied
language of the original text.
The translator believes that some apology may
be requisite for the length, and nature of many
of the notes accompanying the translation. Some
of them were indispensible : it was absolutely ne^
PREFACE. XIX
eessary to ; explain the allusions to customs or
notions, tp domestic manners or religious belief,
to render the text intelligible in many places, and
in others, to enable the Etn^opean reader. to judge
of the beauty or propriety of the thoughts. The
notes to the . geographical part of the poem, it is
hoped, will not be regarded as useless or irrelevant,
as they may perhaps throw some light upon the
ancient geography of central Hindoostan. Illus-
trating passages in the. poem,> by extracts .from
other >Sa/2^cn/ authors, as well as a few verbal and
etymological remarks, may possibly be serviceable
or interesting, to the few and meritorious students
of the beautiful though intricate language of the
original. Tracing the analogies between Greek and
Hindu Mythology^ furnished an amusement to the
translator, which he thinks communicable to
others ; and the analogies between the poetry of
the East and West, are given especially for the
benefit of those liberal critics, who admire, upon
the strength of prescription, the beauties of clas-
sical and modern writings, and deny all merit to
the same or similar ideas, when they occiu: in the
B 2
XX PREFACE*
works of oriental writers. It is also entertaining
to deserve, how much men resemble each other,
in spite of the accidental varieties of complexion
or education, of place or time.
There are perhaps other subjects in the following
pages which require explanation or apology. As,
however, this preface has already exceeded reason-
able limits, they must be consigned to the forbear-
ance of the reader, or they may be attributed to
the inexperience of the translator, and the occu-
pation of his time and attrition in more serious
pursuits*
ARGUMENT.
A Yacsha> or Demigod so called, and' a servant of the
Bindu God of wealthy Cuv^ra^ had incurred the displeasure of
his lord^ by neglecting a garden entrusted to his charge^ and
allowing it to be injured by the entrance of Aiha'vata, the
elephant of Indaa, Deity of the firmament : as a punishment
for his offence^ he was condemned to tweWe months banishment
jErom Alaca, the city of the Yacshas, and consequent separation
from his home and wife. The seat of his exile is the mountain
Bdmagiri, and upon the opening of the poem^ he is supposed to
have passed a period of eight months in solitary seclusion. The
poem opens at the commencement of the rainy season^ when
heavy clouds are gathering in the souths and proceeding in a
northerly coui*se, or towards the Himdla mountains, and the
fictitious position of the residence of the Yacshas, To one
of these^ the distressed Demigod addresses himself, and desires
the Cloud to waft his sorrows to a beloved and regretted
wife. For this purpose he first describes the route which the
messenger is to pursue ; and this gives the Poet an opportunity
•f alluding to the principal mountainsj riven> temples^ &«
B 3
XXU ARGUMENT.
that are to be met with on the road from Rdmagiri to Oujein,
and thence^ nearly due norths to the HimcUaya or snowy moun-
tains. The fabulous mountain CaUdsa, and the city of Cuv^ra^
Alaca, which are supposed to be in the central part of the
snowy range^ are next described^ and we then come to the
personal description of the Yacsha's wife. The Cloud is next
instructed how to express the feelings and situation of the
exile^ and he is then dismissed from the presence of the Deity,
and the Poem of Ca^lida^sa.
NOTE.
' It may be necessary to observe^ that in reading the Sanscrit
names which occur in the following work^ the consonants are to
be pronounced as in English 5 with the exception of C^ which is
uniformly used for K, agreeably to Sir Wm. Jonbs's system.
The vowels have their natural pronunciation^ and the accent
above a vowel marks its being long. The vowels may be thus
pronounced :
A as in America. A' as in Far.
I as in City. F as in Italian or like our 6e.
U as in Full U' ^o. -or like 00.
£ as in Italian or like a in made.
, O as in English.
THE
MEGHA DUTA,
OR
CLOUD MESSENGER.
Where RamagirVs^ shadowj woods extend,
And those pure streams where Sita^ bathed, descend;
Spoiled of his glories,^ severed from his wife,
A banished Yacsha"^ passed his lonely life ; 4
Doomed by Cuyera s^ anger to sustain
Twelve tedious months of solitude and pain.
To these drear hills through circling days confined,
In dull unvaried grief, the God repined ; 8
And sorrow, withering every youthful charm,
Had slipped the golden bracelet firom his arm,^
Y(\ieiivnih'Ash&rha^s glooms'^ the air was hung,
And one dark Cloud around the mountain clung ; IS
B 4
24 MEGHA DUTA, OR
In form some elephant,^ whose sportive rage,
Ramparts, scarce equal to his might, engage.
Long on the mass of mead-reviving dew,
The heavenly exile fixed his eager view ; 16
And still the melancholy tear suppressed,
Though bitterest sorrow wrung his heaving breast.
Reflexion told what promise of delight
Sprang fi-om such gathering shades to happier sight,^ 30
Where the worn traveller is joyed to trace.
His home approaching, and a wife's embrace.
What hope, alas, was his ! yet fancy found
Some solace in the glooms thai deepened round, 84
And bade him hail, amidst the labouring air,
A friendly envoy to his distant fidr :
Who, charged with grateful tidings, might impart
New life and pleasure to her drooping heart. Sd
Cheered with the thought he culled each budding flower,
And wildly wooed the fertilizing power ;
CLOUD MESSENGER. <S
(For who, a prey to agonizing grief, f
Explores not idlest sources for relief ?■* 38
And, as to creatures sensible of pain,
To lifeless nature, loves not to complain ?)
Due homage offered, and oblations made,^^
The Yacska thus the CUmd majestic prayed. 96
Hail ! friend of Indba,^^ counsellor divine,
Illustrious offspring of a glorious line ;^
Wearer of shapes at will ;'"* thy worth I know.
And bold entrust thee with my fitted woe : 40
For bett^ fiur solicitation fidl,^^
With high desert, than with the base prevail.
Thou art the wretch's aid, affliction's friend !
To me unfortunate, thy succour lend ; 41
My lonely state compassionate behold.
Who mourn the vengeance of the Grod of gold ;^^
Condemned amidst these dreary rocks to pine,
And all I wi^h, and all I love, resign. 48
i8 ' M^HA D16ta, or
«
The ponderous Elephants who prop the skies,^^
Shall view thy form expansive with surprize ; 88
Now first their arrogance exchanged for shame.
Lost in thy bulk their long unrivalled fame.
Eastward,^ where various gems with blending raj,
In Indra's how^ o'er yonder hillock play, 92
And on thy shadowy form such radiance shed,
As Peacocks^ plumes around a Chrishn a spread,^^
Direct thy course ; to Mdlas smiling ground,"*^ *
Where firagrant tillage breathes the fields around ; 96
Thy fertile gifts, which looks of love reward,
Where bright-eyed peasants tread the verdant sward.
Thence sailing north and veering to the west,
On Amrac&tas lofty ridges rest.^^ 100
Oft have thy showers the mountain's flames allay'd,
Then fear not wearied to demand its aid ;
Not e'en the vilest,** when a falling firiend
Solicits help it once was his to lend, 104
CLOUD MBSSENOER. 89
Tlie aid that gratitude exacts denies ;
Much less the virtuous shall the claim despise.
When o'er the wooded mountain's towaring head,
Thy hovering shskles like flowing tresses spread ; 106
Its form shall shine with charms unknown before,
That heavenly hosts may gaze at, and adore ;
This earth's round breast, bright swelling firom the ground^,
And with thy orb as with a nipple crown'd.^ 112
m
Next bending" downwards from thy lofty flight,^
On Chitracuta's humbler peak alight ;
O'er the tall hill thy weariness forego,
And quenching rain-drops on its flames bestow ; 118
For speedy fruits are certain to await
Assistance yielded to the good and great.
Thence journeying onwards Vind^hyd^s ridgy chain,^^
And Rim's rill^ that bathes its foot, attain ; ISO
Where, amidst rocks, whose variegated glow
The royal lel^hant's rich trappings rirnw.
30 MEGHA DUTA, OR
Arduous she winds, and next through beds of flowers
She wins her way, and washes Jambu bowers -^ 1^
Here the soft dews thy path has lost resutne,
And sip the gelid current's rich perfume,
Where the wild Elephant delights to shed
The juice exuding firagrant from his head ;^ 1S8
Then swift proceed, nor shall the blast have force
To check with empty gusts thy ponderous course.
Reviving nature bounteous shall dispense,
To cheer thy journey, every charm of sense ; 132
Blossoms with blended green and russet hue,
And opening buds shall smile upon thy view ;
Earth's blazing woods in incense shall arise,
And warbling birds with music fill the skies. 136
Respectful Demigods, shall ciuipus couQt,
The chattering Storks in lengthening order mount ;
Shall mark the O^ocdi^ who, in: thy train^
Expect impatiently t^ie.dropiHng rain : j > > 140
And when thy muttering thunders speak thee near.
Shall clasp their brides, half extasy, half fear.
CIJOUD MESSENGEH^ 5 h
Ah ! much I dread the long protracted way.
Where charms so numerous spring to tempt delay. 144
Will not the frequent hill retard thy flight,
Nor flowery plain persuade prolonged delight ?
Or can the Peacock's animated hail/^
The bird with lucid eyes, to lure thee fail ? 148
Lo ! where awhile the Swans reluctant cower,
Dasarna's fields await the coming shower.:^
Then shall their groves difiuseprofounder gloom,.
And brighter buds the deepening shade illume : 153
Then shall the ancient tree,^^ whose.branches wear^
The marks of village reverence and care, .
Shake through each leaf, as birds pro&nely wrest . ^
The venerend boughs to form the rising nest. 156
Where royal Vidisa^^ confers renown^. .
Thy warmest wish shall firuit^delightfulcrown ::
There Fi^/roT^afi'^stream^^ amlH^osiallaves^
A gentle bankVwith.mildly. murmuring waves, 160
And there her rippling brow and polished iace .
Invite thy smiles, and sue. for thy embrace..i
32 JOSQHA J>liTK OR
Next o'er the lesser hills^^ tfay flight suspend,
And growth erect to drooping flowrets lend ;^^ 164
While sweeter firagrance breathes from each recess,
Than rich perfumes tiie hireling wanton's dress.
On Naga Nadfs banks^^ thy waters shed,
And raise the feeble jasmin's languid head : 168
Grant for a while thy interposing shroud,
To where those damsels woo the friendly Cloud ;
As while the garland's flowery stores they sedk,^^
The schorching sun-beams singe the tender cheek, 172
The ear-hung lotus fades, and vain they jchase,
Fati^ed and fiunt, the drops that dew Ihe fiice.
What though to norttiem dimes thy journey lay,
Consent to track a shortly devious way. 176
To fair Ujain€s^ palaces and pride,
And beauteous daughters, turn awMle aside;
Those glancing eyes, those lightning looks unseen,^
Dark are thy days,^ and thou in vain hast been. ISO
(^LbUB ]M£S86NGER. 3$
Diver^ng thither now the road proceeds
Where eddying waters feir Nirvbid'hya leads,^*
Who speaks the language amorous maids devise,
The lore of signs, the eloqiience of eyes, 181
And seeks with lavish beauty to arrest
Thy course, and woo fliee to her bridal breast.
The torrent passed, behold the Smdku glide,®
As though the hair-band bound the slender tide ; 188
Bleached with ilie withered foliage that the breeze
Has showered rude from overhanging trees ;
To thee she looks for succour to restore
Her lagging witters and her leafy sIkh^.^^ 192
Behold the citj^ whose immortal^&me
Qhwsin Atantfs or Fis^siitimef
Reiiowned finr dSeedsfliat woi^ andlote inspire,^
And bards to paint theiti with po^iit fire : 196
The &irest|K>i^ioii of (^elestial'biith,
34 MEGHA DUTA, OR
The last reward to acts austerest given^
The only recompense then left to heaven.^^ 20O
66
»9
Here, as the early Zephyrs waft along,
In swelling harmony, the woodland song,
They scatter sweetness from the fragrant flower,
That joyful opens to the morning hour ; 20t
With friendly zeal they sport around the maid.
Who early courts their vivifying aid.
And cool from Siprd's^ gelid waves embrace
Each languid limb and enervated grace. SOS
Here, should thy spirit with thy toils decay.
Rest from the labours of the wearying way ;
Round every house the flowery fragi*ance spreads ;
»
O'er every floor the painted footstep^® treads ; 212
Breathed through each casement, swell the scented air,
Soft odours shaken from dishevelled hair ;
Pleased on each terrace, dancing with delight,
The friendly Peacock bails thy grateftil flight : 216
CLOUD MESSENGER. 35
Delay then, certain in Ujayin to find
AH that restores the firame, or cheers the mind.
Hence with new zeal to SivA homage pay,^^
The God whom earth, and hell, and heaven obey :^® 220
The choir who tend his holy fane shall view
With awe, in thee, his neck's celestial blue '^^
Soft through the rustling grove the fragrant gale
Shall sweets firom GancT/uwatrs fount exhale ; 224
Where with rich dust the lotus blossoms teem.
And youthful beauties frolic in the stream.
Here, till the sun has vanished in the west.
Till evening brings its sacred ritual, rest ;'^^ 228
Then reap the recompense of holy prayer.
Like drums thy thunders echoing in the air.
They who with burning feet and aching arms,
With wanton gestures and emblazoned charms, 232
In Mahadeva's fane the measure trekd,*^^
Or wave the gorgeous chowrie''* o'er his head,
c2
36 MEGHA BUTA, OR
Shall turn on thee the grateM-speaking eye,
Whose glances gleam like bees along the sky;*^^ 235
As from thy presence, showers benign and sweety
Cool the parched earth, and soothe their tender feet t'^
Nay more, Bhavani"^ shall herself approve,
And pay thy services with looks of love ; S40
When as her Siva's twilight rites begin.
And he would clothe him in the reeking skin,
He deems thy form the sanguinary hide.
And casts his elephant attire aside ; S44
For at his shoulders, like a dusky robe,
Mantling impends thy vast and shadowy globe :
Where ample forests, stretched its skirts below,
Projecting trees like dangling limbs bestow ; 248
And vermeil roses, fiercely blooming, shed
Their rich reflected glow, their blood-resembling red.
Amidst the darkness palpable*^^ that shrouds.
Deep as the touchstone's gloom, the night with clouds, S52
CLOUD MESSENGER. 37
With glittering lines of yellow lightning break,
And frequent trace in heaven the golden streak :
To those fond fair who tread the royal way,^
The path their doubtM feet explore betray, S56
Those thunders hushed, whose shower-foreboding sound
Would check their ardour and their hopes confound.
On some cool terrace, where the turtle dove
In gentlest accentHlnreathes connubial love, 360
Repose awhile, or plead your amorous vows
Through the long night, the lightning for your spouse;
Your path retraced, resumed your promised flight,
When in the east the Sun restores the light : 364
And shun his.course ; fbr with the dawning sky.
The sorrowing wife dispels the tearful eye.
Her Lord returned ; so comes the Sun to chase
The dewy tears that stain the PoJma'^ fiice,^ S68
And ill his eager penitence will bear
That thou shoulds't check his progress through the ain
c 3
38 ME6HA DUTA, OR
Now to Gamhhira^s wave^* thy shadow flies,
And on the stream's pellucid surface lies, 272
Like some loved image faithfully imprest
Deep in the maiden's pure unsullied breast :
And vain thy struggles to escape her wiles,
Or disappoint those sweetly treacherous smiles, 27G
Which glistening Sapkaras^'^ insidious dart,
Bright as the lotus, at thy vanquished heart.
What breast so firm unmoved by female charms ?
Not thine, my friend ; for now her waving arms, 280:
O'erhanging Bayas^ in thy grasp enclosed.
Rent her cerulean vest, and charms exposed.
Prove how successfully she tempts delay.
And wins thee loitering firom the lengthening way. 284
Thence satiate, lead along the gentle breeze
That bows the lofty summits of the trees,^
And pure with fi*agrance thiat the earth in flowers'^
Repays picoftise to fertilizing showers; 288
CLOUD MESSENGER, 3^
Vocal with sounds the elephants excite,
To D&Dagiri^ wings its welcome flight.
There change thy form, and showering roses shed,^
Bathed in the dews of heaven,^ on Scanda's head; 298
Son of the Crescent's God,^ whom holy ire
Called from the flame of all-devouring fire^
To snatch the Lord of Swerga from despair,
And timely save the trembling hosts of air. 296
Next bid thy thunders o'er the mountain float,
And echoing caves repeat the pealing note ;
Fit music for the bird, whose lucid eye
Gleams like the homed beauty of the sky, 300
Whose moulting plumes, to love maternal dear,^^
Lend brilliant pendants to Bhavani's ear.
To him whose youth in Sdra thickets strayed,
Reared by the nymphs, thy adoration paid, 304
Resume thy road, and to the world proclaim
The glorious tale of Bantideva's^^ fame,
G 4
40 AIH6HA PUTA^ QR
Sprung from the bipod of countless oxen shed,^
And a fair river tbr0]U^Ii Uie r^ions spread*^ 308
Each lute-arm^d spirit .from jthy path retires, .
Lest drops ungeoiial^ d0mpthe tuiiefiil wires ;^
Celestial couplei^ bendiing from .the skies^
Turn on thy d^tunt fipurs^ their downward eyes, 318
And watch thee jl^aseniiig in t^y long descent,
To rob the river's scanty stores intent;
As clothed in sacred darkness not thme owd/^
Thine is the azure of t)i^ costly, stone ; 316
A central sapphire, in the lopaen^ girtb,^^
Of scattering pearls, th^t strung the blooming earth.
The streamlet traversed, |p the eager ai^t
Of Ddsapura*s^ fidr impart delight ; 320
Welcomed withiooks that ^^fffi|dding;6y08 ibestow,
Whose arching hr^ws .like gr%ceflil creepers glow,
Whose upturned lashes, to thy lofty way.
The pearly ball aitd pupil dark display ; 324
Such contrast as ;the lovely Cunda shews^
When the black bee sits pieced amidst her snows.
Hence to the land of Brahha's fiivoured sons,^
O'er Curu*s fatal field*^ thy journey runs ; 328
With deepest glooms hang o'er the deadly plain,
Dewed with the blood of mighty warriors slain ;
There Ar jun'ii^^^ wrath opposing armies felt.
And countless arrows strong Gandvoa^^ dealt, 3S3
Thick as thy drops that, in the pelting shower,^^
Incessant hurtle round the shrinking flower.
O'er Sansiswairs waters^^^ wing your course,
And ipward prove thdr pinrifying^ force ; 33^
Most holy) since oppressed with heaviest grief,
The ploughshare's mighty Lord here sought relief ;^^
From kindred strife, andREVATi wididrew,^
And to these banks and holy mudng flew. 340
42 MEGHA DUTA, OR
Thy journey next o'er Canac'hala^^ bends,
Where Jahnu's daughter'^® from the hills descends,
Whose lengthening stream, to Sagar's virtue given,^^
Conducts his numerous progeny to heaven ; . 344
She who with smiling waves disportive strayed*^"
Through Sambhu's locks, and with his tresses played;
Unheeding, as she flowed delighted down.
The gathering storm of Gouri's jealous frown. 348
^'.^
Shoidd her clear current tempt thy thirsty lip.
And thou inclining bend the stream to sip.
Thy form, like Indra's Elephant displayed,''*
Shall clothe the crystal waves with deepest shade, 353
With sacred glooms the darkening waves shall glide,
As where the Jumna mixes with the tide."^
As Siva's Bull^^^ upon his sacred neck.
Amidst his ermine, owns some sable speck, 356
So shall thy shade upon the mountain show.
Whose sides are silvered with eternal snow ;
CLOUD MESSENGER. 43.
"Where Gunga leads her purifying waves,
And the Musk Deer*^"* spring frequent from the caves. 360
From writhing boughs should forest flames arise,^*^
Whose breath the air, and brand the Yac supplies,
Instant afford the aid 'tis thine to lend,
And with a thousand friendly streams^descend; 364
For still on earth prosperity proceeds
From acts of love, and charitable deeds.
Shame is the fruit of actions indiscreet.
And vain presumption ends but in defeat ; 368
So shall the Sarabhasy^^ who thee oppose.
Themselves to pain and in&my expose ; .
When round their heads, amidst the lowering sky.
White as a brilliant smile,' ^"^ thy hail-stones fly. 372
Next to the mountain with the foot imprest"*
Of him who wears the crescent for his crest.
44 MEiGHA DUTA, OR
Devoutly pass, and with religious glow,
Around the spot in pious circles go :^^^ 376
For there have Saints the sacred altar raised,
And there eternal offerings have blazed ;
And blest the &ithM worshippers, for they
The stain of sin with life shall cast away : 380
And after death a glad admittance gain
V
To Siva's glorious and immortal train.
Here wake the chorus : bid the thunder's sound,
Deep and reiterated, roll around, ,384
Loud as a hundred drums ; while softer strains.
The swelling gale breathes sweetly through the canes
And from the lovely songsters of the skies,^^^
Hymns to the victor of Tbipura rise.'^ 388
.120
Thence to the snow-clad hills thy course direct,
And Crouncha's celebrated pass select ;^^
That pass the swans in annual flight explore.
And erst a hero's mighty arrows tore.^^"* 392
CLOUD MESSENGER. 45
lYinding thy way due north, through the defile.
Thy form compressed, with borrowed grace shall smile :
The sable foot that Bali marked with dread,^
A Grod triumphant o'er creation spread. 396
Ascended thence a transient period rest.
Renowned Cailasc^s venerated guest ;^**
That mount, whose sides with brightest lustre shine,
A polished mirror, worthy charms divine ; ' 400
Whose base a Ravan firom its centre wrung,
Shaken not sundered, stable though unstrung :^^
Whose lofty peaks to distant realms in sight^^
Present a SivA's smile, a lotus white : 404
And lo ! those peaks than ivory more d^ur,
When yet unstained the parted tusks appear,
Beam with new lustre, as around their head
Thy glossy glooms metallic darkness spread ;^^ 408
As shews a HalabhbYta's sable vest,'^°
More fidr the pallid beauty of his breast
46 MEGHA DUTA, OR
Haply aonoss thy long and mountain way,
In spcnl may Gouri with her Sita stray ,*^^ 413
Her serpent bracelet from her wrist displaced,
^nd in her arms the mighty God embraced.
Should thus it fortune, be it thine to lend
A path their holy footsteps may ascend ; 416
Close in thy hollow form thy stores comprest,
While by the touch of feet celestial blest.
I3J
Next let each maid of heaven, each blooming girl.
Thy graceful form in sportive mischief whirl ;^^^ 420
While lightning gems around each wrist that wind,'
Release the treasures in thy breast confined :
Nor fear their aim thy progress to delay,
A grateful succour in the sultry day ; 424
For soon thy thunders shall disperse a train,
Of heart as timid as of purpose vain.^*
Where bright the mountain's crystal glories break,
Explore the golden lotus-covered lake : 428
CLOUD MESSENGER. 47
Imbibe the dews of Mdnasa^^^ and spread
A friendly veil round Arwata^s head ;^^
Or life dispensing, with the Zephyrs go
Where heavenly trees with fiunting blossoms blowJ^ 432
Now on the mountain's side like some dear firiend,
Behold the city of the Gods impend;*^
Thy goal behold, where Ganga^s winding rill
Skirts like a costly train the sacred hill ; 436
Where brilliant pearls descend in lucid showers,
And clouds like tresses clothe her lofty towers.
There every palace with thy glory vies,
Whose soaring summits kiss the lofty skies ;^^ 440
Whose beatiteous inmates bright as lightning glare,
And tabors mock the thunders of the air ;
The rainbow flickering gleams along the walls.
And glittering rain in sparkling diamonds fidls* 444
There lovely triflers wanton through the day,
Dress all their care> and all their labour play ;
48 ME6HA ]>UTA, OR
One while the fluttering lotus fans the &ir,
Or Cunda top-knots crown the jetty hair ; 448
Now o'er the cheek the Lod'h's pale ^pollen shines,
Now 'midst their curls the Amaranth entwined ;
These graces varying with the varying year,
Sirisha blossoms deck the tender ear ; 453
Or new Cadawbas^ with thy coming born,
The parted locks and polished front adorn.
Thus graced, they woo the Yacshas to their arms.
And gems, and wine, and music, aid their charms ; 456
The strains divine with art celestial thrill.
And wines from grapes of heavenly growth distilV^
The gems bestrew each terrace of delight.
Like stars that glititer through the shades of night. ^^^ 4^
There, when the Sun restores the rising day,
What deeds of love Us telltale beams -displ^ ;
The withered gaiiands on the pathway found, ;
The feded loMsf prostrate on the girdund, 464
CLOUD MESSENGER. 49
The pearls that bursting zones have taught to roam,
Speak of fond maids and wanderers from homeJ^^
High on its cosily stem, with diamonds bright,
The splendid lamp glows vivid through the night ;**^ 468
Or the soft glories of the lunar beam,^**
In gems condensed, difiuse their grateful gleam.
What though, while Siva with the God of Gold
Delights a friendly intercourse to hold ; 472
The JLord of Laoe^ remembering former woe,^^^
#
Wields not in Alaca his bee -strung bow :
Yet still he triumphs, for each maid supplies
The fetal bow with love-inspiring eyes, 476
And wanton glances emulate the dart***^
That speeds unerring to the beating heart.
The gale that blows eternally, their guide,
High over Alaca the clouds divide, 480
Scattered they lie, as if dispersed by fear.
And conscious crime spoke retribution near :
.1)
50 MEGHA DUTA, OR
Some just award, for showers that lately soiled
The paiuted floor,'*^ or gilded roof despoiled. 48*
Northward from where Cuveba holds his state.
Where Indr a's bow surmounts the arching gate ;
Where on rich boughs the clustering flower depends,
And low to earth the tall Mand&ra bends :^^^ 4^
Pride of the grove, whose wants my fiiir supplies,
And nurtures like a child,^"*^ my dwelling lies.
There is the fountain emerald steps denote^
Where golden buds on stalks of coral float,^ 49^
And for whose limpid waves the Swans forsake^
Pleased at thy sight, the mount encircled lake.
Soft from the pool ascends a shelving ground,
Where shades devoted to delight abound ; 496
Where the cerulean summit towers above
The golden circle of a plantain grove :'^
Lamented haunts ! whom now in thee I view,
As glittering lightnings girt thy base of blue t 500
CLOUD MESSENGER. 5J
See where the clustering Mdcthaoi^^^ entwines,
Apd bright Curavaca^^^ the wreath confines ;
Profuse, Asoca^^^ sheds its radiant flower.
And budding Cisard}^"^ adorns the bower : 504
These are my rivals ;^^^ for the one would greet,
As I would willingly, my charmer's feet,
And with my fondness, would the other sip
The grateAiI nectar of her honey 'd lip, 508
A golden column on a chrystal base,
Begirt with jewels, rises o'er the place ;
Here, when the evening twilight shades the skies,
The blue necked Peacock to the summit flies,^^ 512
And moves in gracefiil circles, to the tone
My fitir awakens firom her tinkling zone J^"^
These be thy guides ; and fiiithfully preserve
The marks I give ihee ; or e'en more, observe 516
Where painted emblems holy wealth design,
Cuvera's treasures ;^^^ that abode is mine.
D 2
52 ME6HA DUTA, OR
Haply its honours are not now to boast,
Dimmed by my fate, and in my exile lost ; 520
For when the Sun withdraws his cheering rays,
Faint are the charms the Camala displays. ^^^
To those loved scenes repaired, that awful size,
Idke a young Elephant, in haste disguise ; 534
Lest terror seize my fair one, as thy form
Hangs o'er theliillock and portends the storm.
Thence to the inner mansion bend thy sight,
Difiusing round a mild and quivering light ; 528
As when through evening shades soft flashes play,
Where the bright fire-fly wings his glittering wdy.
160
There in the fane a beauteous creature stands,
The first best work of the Creator's hands ;^^^ 532
Whose slender limbs inadequately bear
A full orbed bosom, and a weight of care ;
Whose teeth like pearls, whose lips like Bimbos show,^^
And fawn-like eyes still tremble as they glow. 536
CLOUD MESSENGER. 53
Lone as the widowed Chacravaci moums,^^^
Her faithful memory to her husband turns,
And sad, and silent, shalt thou find my wife,
Half of my soul, and partner of my life ;^^ 340
Nipped by chill sorrow as the flowers enfold*^
Their shrinking petals fi*om the withering cold.
I view her now ! long weeping swells her eyes,
166
%
And those dear lips are dried by parching sighs ; 544
Sad on her hand her pallid cheek declines.
And half unseen through veiling tresses shines ;
As when a darkling night the moon enshrouds,
A few &int rays break straggling through the clouds. 548
Now at thy sight I mark fi"esh sorrows flow.
And sacred sacrifice augments her woe;^^
I mark her now, "with fancy's aid, retrace
This wasted figure and this haggard fece; 552
Now fi*om her^&vourite Inrd she seeks relief,
And teUs the tunefal Sdricd'^ her grief,
D 3
54 ■ M^HA DUTA, OJl
Mourns o'er the feathered prisoner's kindred Me,
And fondly questions of its absent mate. ' ' 556
In vain the lute for harmony is strung/®
And round the robe-neglected shoulder slung ;"°
And Mtdring accents strive to catch, in vain,
Our race's old commemorative strain :"* 560
/ The falling tear that from reflexion springs, \
Corrodes incessantly the silvery strings ;
Recurring woe still pressing on the heart,
The skilful hand forgets its grateM art, i 564
( And idly wanderkig strikes no measured tone, ^
But wakes a sad wild warbUng of its own.
i
At times such sdiaoe animates her mind,
As widowed wives in chbeiiess absence find ;^'^' 568
She counts the flowers mw iMed on Ih^ floor.
That graced with monthly piety the door^*''^
Thence reckons up the period since firom home.
And far from her, was I compelled to roam ; 572
CUOUD MESSENGER. 55
And deeming fond my term of exile run.
Conceives my homeward journey is begun.
Lightened by tasks like th^e the day proceeds,
But much I dread a Intterer night succeeds i^'^*- 576
When thou shalt view her on the earth's cold breast,
Or lonely couch of separation rest,
Disturbed by tears thosQ pallid cheeks that bum.
And visions of her dearer halfs return. 580
Now seeking sleep, a husband to restore,
Apd'waking now, his absence tp deplore ;^"^
Deprived of slumber by returning woes, ^
Or mocked by idle phanton^s of repose; 684
Till her slight fi)rm, c^suiped by ceaseless pain,
Shews like the mopii, fiist hastening to ita wane-
Crisp from the purifying wave, her Jii^r , /;...,
Conceals the charms, no more her ple8(siog car^j 588
And with neglected nails her fingers chase.
Fatigued, the tresses wandering o^er her fiice,
p 4r
56 M^GHA DIJtA, OR
Firm winds the fillet, as it first was wove/^^
When fete relentless forced me fi'om my love ; 592
And never flowery wreathes, nor costly pearls,
Must hope to decorate the fettered curls ;
Loosed by no hand, until the law divine
Accomplished, that delighted hand is mine. 596
Dull as the flower when clouds through ether sweep,
Not wholly waking, nor resigned to sleep.
Her heavy eyelids languidly unclose '
To where the moon its silvery radiance throws 600
Mild through the chaniber ; once a welcome light,
) Avoided now, and hateful to her sight, i^
Those charms that glittering omaqients oppress.
Those restless slumbers that proclaim distress, 604
That slender figure worn by grief severe.
Shall surely gain thy sympathizing tear ;
For the soft breast is swift to overflow,"'^
In moist compassion, at the claims of woe. ' 608
CLOUD MESSENGER. ^7
The same fond wife aa when compelled to part^
Her love was mine, I still possess her heart :
Her well known faith this confidence affords,
Nor vain conceit suggests unmeaning words ; 613
No boaster I ! and time shall quickly teach,
With observation joined, how just my q[>eech.
O'er her left limbs shall glad pulsations play,^"^^
And signs auspicious indicate thy way ; 616
And like the lotus trembling on the tide.
While its deep roots the sportive fish divide.
So tremulous throbs the eye's enchanting ball,
Loose o'er whose lids neglected tresses fall. 6S0
Soothed by expected bliss should gentle sleep
O'er her soft limbs and frame exhausted creep,
Delay thy tidings, and suspend thy flight.
And watch in silent patience through the night ; 624
Withhold thy thunders, lest the awful sound
Her slumber banish, and her dreams confound.
i -T »
58 ME6HA DUTA> OR
VHiere her fond arms, like winding shrubs she flings^'^^
Around my neck, and tp my bosom clings. 628
Behold her rising with the early mom,
Fair as the flower that opening buds adorn ;^^^
And strive to animate her drooping mind
With cooling rain-drops and refreshing wind : 63S
Restrain Ay lightnings, as her tindid ga2e
JShrinks from the bright intolerable blaze ;
And murmuring scrftty, gpentle soimds prepare,
With words like these to raise her from despair. 636
f Oh wife adored ! whose lord still lives for thee,
< Behold his friend and messenger in me ;
^ Who now approach thy beauteous presence fraught
' With many a tender and consoling thought ; 640
< Such tasks are mine :^^^ where absent lovers stray,
^ I speed the wanderer lightly on his way ;
< And with my thunders teach his lagging mind,
^ New h^pes the braid of absence, to unbind.'!^ 64A
CSX)UD MESSENGEll. 19
As beauteous Mait'hili,^^ with gkul suirprize,
Bent on the Son of- Air heer opening eyes ;
So my fair partner^s pleased uplifted gaze,
Thy ifriendly presence with delight surveys ; 648
She smiles, she speaks, her mistery foregoes,
And deep* attention on thy words bestows : ' •
For such dear tidings happiness impart, '
Scarce less thdn mutual meeting to the heart.'^ 659
Being, of years protracted, aid th)^ friend,* ' *
And with my words thin^ own suggjestions Uend ; *
Say thus; ^ Thy lord oW Rama's mountain strays,
^ Nor cares but those of absence blight his days ; 656
^ His only wish by me, his friend, to know
' If he is blest with health, that thou art so ; .
^ For still this fear especially nrast wait ^
' On every creative of our passing statd.^^ .660
^ What though to distance driven by wrath divine,
^ Imagination joms Ida form with thine ;
60 MISGHA Dl^TA, OR
^ Such as I view is his emaciate frame,
' Such his regrets, his scorching^ pangs the same ; 664
* To every sigh of thine his sigh replies,
^ And tears responsive trickle from his eyes.
* By thee unheard, by those bright eyes unseen,
^ Since &te resists and regions intervene, 668
'* To me the message of his love consigned,
^ Pourtrays the sufferings of his constant mind.
^ Oh, were he present, fondly would he seek,
* In secret whisper, that inviting cheek ; 672
* Woo thee in close approach his words to hear,
'■'' And breathe these tender accents in thine ear.'
*'' Goddess beloved ! how vainly I explore
'^ The world to trace the semblance I adore ; 676
*''^^» Thy graceful form the flexile tendril shews,
'' And like thy locks the peacock's plumage glows ;
^' Mild as thy cheeks^ the moon's new beams appear, ^^^
^' And those soft eyea ladorn -• the timid deer; ^ \ 680
CLOUD MESSENGER. 61
" In ripling brooks thy curling brows I see,
" But only view combined these charms in theeJ^'
^^ E'en in these wilds, our unrelenting fate
" Proscribes the union, love an^ art create ; 684
" When with the colours that the rock supplies,'®*
" O'er the rude stone thy pictured beauties rise,
" Fain would I think once more we fondly meet,
" And seek to fall in homage at thy feet. 688
" In vain ; for envious tears my purpose blight,
"And veil the lovely image from my sight.
" Why should the God who wields the five-fold dart,'®'
" Direct his shafts at this afflicted heart ; 692
" Nor spare to agonize an aching breast,
*' By sultry suns and banishment oppressed :
" Oh! that these heavy hours would swiftly fly,
^^ And lead a happier fate and milder sky. 696
" Believe me. Dearest, that my doom severe,
*^ Obtains from heavenly eyes the frequent tear^
M BIEGHA DUTA, OR
" And where the spirits of these groves attend/^^
^^ The pitjing drops in pearly showers descend ; ^ 700
'' As oft in sleep they mark my outstretched arms,
" That clasp in blissful dreams thy fancied charms,^ ^*
" Play through the air, and fold in fond embrace^
" Impassive matter and ethereal space. ^^^ 704
^^ Soft and delightful to my senses blows
" The breeze that southward wafts HimakCs snows,
^^ And rich impregnated with gums divine,
^^ Exuding fragrant from the shattered pine, 70%
^' Diffuses sweets to aU, but most to me ;
** Has it not touched, does it not breathe of thee ?'^*
" What are my tasks : to speed the lagging mght,
" And urge impatiently the rising light ; 71.2
" The light returned, I sicken at the ray,
^^ And shun as eagerly the shining day :
" Vain are my l9.bours in this lonely state, .
^^ But fate proscribes, and we must bow to fete* 716
\
CLOUD MESSENGER. «
•* Let then my firnuiess save thee from despair,*^
^' Who trust mjself, nor sink beneath my care ;
*^ Trust to fiiturity, for still we view,
" The always wretched, always blest, are few :^^ 720
" Life, like a wheel's revolving orb, turns round,
^^ Now whirled in air, now dragged along the ground.
*' When from his serpent couch that swims the deep,
" Sdrangi rises from celestial sleep ;'^^ 724
^^ When four more months unmarked have run their course,
^^ To us all gloom, the curse has lost its force :
" The grief from separation born expires,
^^ And Autumn's nights reward our chaste desires. 72S
'' Once more I view thee as mine eyes unclose,
^^ Laid by my side, and lulled by soft repose ;
^' And now I mark thee startle from thy sleep,
^^ Loos^ thy enfolding arms, and wake to weep ; 7Si
^^ My anxious love long vainly seeks reply,
^^ Till, as the smile relumes that lucid eye^
tS4 M£GHA d6tA, OR
" Thy arch avowal owns, that jealous fear
^^ Affrighted slumber, and aroused the tear. 736
*^ While thus, oh Goddess with the dark black eyes !
^^ My fond assurance confidence supplies,
" Let not the tales that idle tattlers bear,
" Subvert thy faith, nor teach thee to despair :^^ 740
l" True love no time nor distance can destroy,
" And independent of all present joy,
l" It grows in absence, as renewed delight,
■" Some dear memorials, some loved lines excite." 744
Such, vast Dispenser of the dews of heaven I
Such is my suit, and such thy promise given ;
Fearless upon thy friendship I rely,
Nor ask that promise, nor expect reply i^^ 748
To thee the thirsty Chaiacas complain ;
Thy only answer is the falling rain ;
And still such answer from the Good proceeds.
Who grant our wishes, not in words, but deeds, 75S
CLOUD MESSENGER. 65
Thy task performed, condoled the mourner's mind,
Haste thy return these solitudes to find ;
Soar from the mountain, whose exalted brow
The horns of Siva's bull majestic plough, 75G
And hither speeding, to my sorrowing heart,
Shrunk like the bud at dawn, relief impart ;^^
With welcome news my woes tumultuous still,
And all my wishes tenderly fiilfil. 760
Then to whatever scenes invite thy way,
Waft thy rich stores, and grateM glooms convey ;
And ne'er may destiny like mine divide
Thy brilliant spouse, the lightning, from thy side. 764
This said he ceased : the messenger of air
Conveyed to Alaca his wild despair ;
The God of Wealth, relenting, learnt hU state.
And swiftcurtailed the limit of his fate ; 768
Removed the curse, restored him to his wife,
And blest with ceaseless joy their everlasting life.
E
ANNOTATIONS.
Note 1, page 23, verse 1.
Where RdmagirVs shadowy woods extend,
Rdmagiri is a compound term, signifying the mountain of Ra*m a,
and may be applied to any of those hills, in which the hero
resided during his exile or peregrinations. His first and most
celebrated residence was the mountain Chitracuta in Bundelcund,
now known by the name of Convptah, and still a place of sanc^
tity and pilgrimage. We find that tradition has assigned to
another mountain, a part of the Kimoor range, the honour of
affording him, and his companions, Sita and Lachsmana, a
temporaiy. asylum upon his progress to the south, and it is con-
sequently held in veneration by the neighbouring villagers : see
Capt. Blunt' s journey from Chunarghur to Yertnagoodum,
Asiatic Researches, vol. vii, p. 60. An account of a journey
from Mlrzapore to Nagpore, however, in the Asiatic Annual
Register for 1806, has determined the situation of the scene of
the present poem to be in the vicinity of the latter city : the
modern name of the mountain is there stated to be Ramtic ; it
is marked in the maps Ramtege, but I understand the proper
word is Ramiinci, which in the Mahratta language has probably
E 2
(J8 ANNOTATIONS.
the same import as Retmc^ri, the hill of Ra'ma. It is situated
hut a short distance to the north of Nagpore, and is covered
with buildings consecrated to Ra'ma and his associates, which
receive the periodical visits of numerous and devout pilgrims.
Note 2, page 23, verse 2.
And those pure streams where Sita bathed, descend.
In his exile, Ra'ma was accompanied by his younger brother,
Lachsmana, and his faithful consort Sita, or as she is called
in the original, the daughter of Janaca, until the latter was
carried off by the demon or giant RaVana : see the Rdnuipana.
The performance of her ablutions in the springs of the mooB^
tain, is here stated to have rendered their water the object of
religious veneration.
Note 3, page 23, verse 3.
Spoiled of his glories, severed from his wife.
In the original, ** His greatness was gone to its setting,*' a
figure with which English poetry is perfectly ffiuniliar) tfan»
Wolsey in Henry the Eighth.
Nay then farewell !
I*ve touched the highest point of all ray greatness.
And from that full meridian of my glory,
'* I haste now to my setting."
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ANNOTATIONS. 69
Note 4, page 23, verse 4.
A banished Yiicsha passed his Umely life*
A Yacsha is a demigod^ of which there exists a Gana or class :
they have few peculiar attributes, and are regarded only as the
companions or attendants of CuviRA, the god of wealth. The
word is derived from yacsha to worship, either because they
minister to Cuy^ra, are reverenced themselves by men, or are
beloved by the Apsaras, the courtezans of Indra's heaven :
they have, however, their own female companions or wives, as
appears by the poem. One writer cited and censured by a com-
mentator on the Amera C6sha, derives the name from jacsha, to
eat, because he says they devour children. Occasionally, indeed,
the Yacshas appear as imps of evil, but in general their character
is perfectly inoffensive.
Note 5, page 23, verse 5.
Doomed by Cuv^ra's anger
Cavj^RA, in Hindu mythology, performs the functions of the
Grecian Plutus : he is the lord of wealth, and master of nine
inestimable treasures ,* his capital is situated on mount Caildsa,
and inhabited by Yacshas, Cinnaras, and other inferior deities.
He has a variety of appellations alluding to these circumstances,
but is most commonly designated by the one here employed :
the term is expressive of his deformity, being derived from cu
vile, and v^a body, and he is described as having three legs,
and but eight teeth. No images of him .OQCur, nor is any
s 3
70 ANNOTATIONS.
particular worship paid to him ; and in these respects there is a
considerable analogy between him and his Grecian paralleL
Plutus is described as blind, malignant, and cowardly, and
seems to have received but very slender homage from Greek or
Roman devotion. The term anger, here used, is more literally,
curse. Imprecation is the great weapon of a Brakmca^, saint
and deity, and in either case is deadly and inexpiable. The
gods themselves are subject to its force, whether denounced by
other deities, or by holy men : thus Indra was curbed by the
Sage Gautama; and the circumstance of Brahma not recei«
ving any peculiar worship from the Hindus, is still attributed to
the operation of an anathema pronounced upon him by SiVAi
Note 6, page 23, verse 10.
Had slipped the golden bracelet from his arm.
This is a favourite idea with Hindu poets, and repeatedly oc»
curs. Thus in Sir Wm. Jonbs*s version of the elegant drama
of Sacontala, Dushmanta says : — " This golden bracelet,
sullied by the flame which preys on me, and which no dew
mitigates, but the tears gushing nightly from my eyes, has
fallen again and again on my wrist, and has been replaced on
my emaciated arm."
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Note 7, page 23, verse 1 1.
fFhen with Ashdr'ha^s glooms the air was hung.
The month Ashdd^ha or Ashdfha, comprehends the latt<^
ANNOTATIONS. 71
part of June and the commencement of July> and is the period
about which the south-west monsoon^ or rainy season, usually
sets in.
Note 8, page 24, verse 13.
Inform some elephant, whose sportive rage.
Thus in the Pur&na Sarvaswa clouds are described as '' Shaped
'* like buffaloes, boars, and wild elephants." In Chapman's
Bussy d*Amhois they are said to assume,
'^ .... In our faulty apprehensions,
'^ The forms of dragons, lions, elephants."
And Share SFEABE, although he omits the elephant, gives them,
with his usual overflow of imagery, a great variety of shapes.
Sometime, we see a cloud that*s dragonish -,
A vapour, sometime, like a bear^ or lion,
A towered citadel, a pendant rock,
" A forked mountain, or blue promontory
" With trees upon *t, that nod unto the world,
" And mock our eyes with air."
Anthony and Cleopatra.
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«
Note 9, page 24, verse 20.
Sprang from such gathering shades to happier sight.
The commencement of the rainy season being peculiarly
delightful in Hindoostan, from the contrast it affords to the
jsultry weather immediately preceding, and also rendering the
^ E 4
72 ANNOTATIONS.
roads pleasant and practicable^ is asually selected for travelling.
Hence frequent allusions occur in the poets to the expected
return of such persons as are^ at this time^ absent from thieir
family and home.
«
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Note 10> page 25 > verse 32.
Explores not idlest sources for reliefs
The expression of thi^ passage is somewhat different from its
construction in the original^ the simplicity of which perhaps
unfits it for English verse : the sentiment has been translated
rather than the words, which are to this effect : '* A Cloud is
but an assemblage of smoke, fire^ wind and vrater, how
therefore should tidings be obtained from it by those who
" have life, and sensible organs ? The Gukyaco, from his exces-
*' sive affliction not remembering this, addressed his suit to it 5
and verily, those pained with desire, are unable to discrimi-
nate animated from inanimate beings.*' The author has here,
with great ingenuity, apologized for the whole plan of his poem,
and attributed the apparent absurdity of talking rationally to a
Cloud, to the state of the Yacsha*s mind. The term Guhyaca,
which occurs in the original, is an appellative of the same
celestial being who is understood by the word Yacsha, explained
above. It is severally derived by etymologists from guha to
conceal, gultya a disagreeable sound, or guhya a privity, because
these beings are in charge of the treasurers of CuviRA, emit un-
pleasant sounds, or are attached to sensual objects. A recent find
«
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ANNOTATIONS. 73
saperficial writer has derived it from guhfa the podex, founded
upon a legend dted in an Essay upon Mount Caucasus, by Mr.
WiLFORD^ Asiatic Researches^ vol. vi^ Which has no relation
to the followers of Cuv^ra^ and has asserted, that the dark
souls of men addicted in this world to selBsh gratification,
transmigrate into these demigods : a statement fouuded upon I
know not what authority. On the contrary, indeed, they are
amongst the highest forms which the second quality, or that of
passion, attains. Menu, 12. 47. See Sir Wm. Jonbs's transla-
tion.
Note 11, page 25, vers e 35.
iytte homage offered and oblations mad^.
The oblation of the blossoms of the Cutaja, fNerUm miidy^
ientericum) is called Argha in the original, a religious rite tvhidi
seems to be analogous to the hbation of the earlier periods of the
Grecian ritud. Argha, in the Amera CdsfUt, is described as a
species of worship, and is perhaps inore pi-ol^^ly thfc «M)t'9if'6fiet-'-
ing a libation to a venerable person, or to a deity, although tt
also implies the oblation itself, otherwise denomiiitited Arghyti.
This oblation, of which Water forms the basis, is presented in s
cup, a shell, or any metallic oblong and boat-shaped vessel. Tb^
vessel, in the spoken dialects, is called by a similar name Jfjgha^
indeed Mr. Wilfohd states, Asiatic Researches, vol Hi, p. 364,
and vol. viii, p.274, that Argha in Sanscrit means d ftoatf, Adienee
be deduces the ship Ai^, &c. sltid Whende With Mr. BEtANrt
74 ANNOTATIONS.
assistance we may deduce the Jrk of Scripture : the SanscrH
word^ however, has not been found in any of the vocabularies
pfthe language with the import Mr Wilford has assigned to it.
The oblation called Argha or Jrghya, generally considered^
comprises eight articles, thus enumerated: '* The eight-fold
'' Arghya is formed of water, milk, the points of Gwa grass,
'* curds, clarified butler, rice, barley, and white mustard.** In
the Achdra Dersa of Srtdatta, in a passage quoted from the
DM Purdna, they are stated somewhat differently, thus:
*' The general Argha, proper for any of the gods, consists of
** saffron^ the B^l, unbroken grain, flowers, curds, Durva
" grass, Cusa grass, and Sesamum,'* Water is not mentioned
here, being considered as the vehicle of the whole. The same
-author adds, that should any of these not be procurable they
may be supplied by the imagination. Besides the Argha common
±0 all the Gods, there are peculiar ones foe separate deities : thus
^we find a few new blown buds are sufficient for a Cloud ; and in
the Sarvaswa Purdna the Argha for the Sun is thus enumerated :
*' Having presented . an Arghya to the Sun, of water mixed
*' with sandal and flowers" : and an oblation to the same planet,
as given by Mr. Colebrooke, Asiatic Researches, vol. v: p.
•357> is said to consist of Tila flowers, barley, water and red
Sanders. Water alone is also sufficient to constitute the Argha,.
In the articles which form the Argha of the Hindus, as well a$
-in the . mode of presentation, that of pouring it out or libating>
w^ trace its analogy with the ancient libation. Of course.
ANNOTATIONS. 75
wine could never enter into Hindu offerings of this kind ; but
we find that the Greeks had their sober sacrifices, from which
wine Was excluded : these were of four kinds 5 libations of
water, of honey, of milk, and of oil 5 which liquors were
sometimes mixed with one another. According to Porphyry,
most of the libations in the primitire times were sober. See
Potter's Antiquities of Greece, We have here then three of
the/cmr fluid substances of an Argha, as first enumerated above^
if we may compare the clarified butter with the oil: honey
would of course be omitted on the same account as wine, being
a prohibited article in Hindu law. With respect to the solid
parts of the offering, a reference to the same authority will
shew, that they consisted of green herbs, grains, fruits, flowers,
and frankincense, analogous to the grasses, rice, barley, flowers,
sandal, &c. of the Sanscrit formulae.
Note 12, page 25, verse 37.
Hail ! friend of Indra, counsellor divine.
iNDRAis the sovereign deity of Swerga, or the Hindu Olympus ^
the Cloud is here considered as his friend or counsellor, in allu«
sion to his functions as regent of the atmosphere, where he
appears in the character of the Jupiter Tonans. The appella-
tive maghavat, used in the original, is considered by etymolo-
gists as irregularly derived from the passive form of mah to
adore, to worship.
76 ANNOTATIONS.
Note 13> page 25^ verse 38.
Ehutriaus offspring of a glorious line.
According to the original, '^ Descended from the ceMirated
" line of the Pushcardoartacas,** translated in a prose version oi
this passage^ *' Dilnvian Clouds ;" see Col£BBooks on Samcni
and PracrU Prosody, Asiatic Researches, vol. x. Cloads, agree-
ably to the Brahmdnda Purdna, are divided into three classes^
according to their origin from fire, the breath of Bbahma', or
the wings of the mountains which were cut off by Indba (paksha).
These latter are also called Pushcarduartaca, being especially the
receptacles of water : thus in tlie Purdna Sarvaswa, " The name
^' Pushcard is applied to those Clouds which are swollen with
*^ abundant water, and which are, on that account, termed Push'
'* cardoartaca (or receptacles of that fluid).**
Note 14, page 25, verse 39.
Wearer of shapes at wHl, tky worth 1 know.
Or Camarvpa, from cdma desire^ and rupa iorm, shape. Thus
Socraies, in the Clouds.
f ' Why then,
^' Ckmds can assume what shapes they will, believe me.**
Cumbebi/and's Translation,
Note 15, page 25, verse 41.
For better far solicitation fail.
This is a sentiment of rather an original strain, and indicates
ANNOTATIONS. 77
considerable elevation of mind. Something of the same kind
occurs in Massinger*s play of the Bondman, where Pisandeb
says^
'^ I*d rather fall under so just a judge^
Than be acquitted by a judge corrupt
And partial in his censure.'*
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Note 16^ page 25> verse 46.
fVho mourn the vengeance of the God of GoUL
CvviRAj see Note 5, page 69.
Note 17, page 26, verse 50.
And SiVA*8 crescent groves surrounding gilds*
The crest of Siva is the new moon^ which is sometimes des-
cribed as forming a third eye in his forehead. The Himdla
mountains^ amongst which we shall hereafter find Caildsa to be
situated^ are S i va's favourite haunts ; he also resides occasion-
ally on that mountain, and is repres^ated as the particular friend
and frequent guest of CuvijoA.
Note 18, page 26, verse 52.
in Alaca,
Alaca is the capital of CuvisA, and the residence of his
dependent deities.
78 ANNOTATIONS.
Note 19, page 26, verse 52.
To her who mourns in Alaca my fate.
I have here taken a liberty with the order of the original, and
brought the description of the Yacsha*8 wife a little in advance,
in order to preserve the description which follows of the Cloud's
progress more cqnnected. The Hindu poets are not very so-
licitous in general about arrangement, but it is possible that,
in this case, I may not have improved upon that of Ca'lida'sa.
The 10th stanza of the Sanscrit corresponds with these lines.
Note 20, page 26, verse 56.
And count the moments of the lingering year.
'* Or count the time like those who faithful love." — Ovid.
Note 21, page 26, verse 58.
While hope its aid invigorating gives.
Thus in the Tristia of Ovid, 3. 3. 16.
'' And hope in you shall be our cause of strength/'
Note 22, page 26, verses 59-60.
For female hearts, though fragile as the flower,
Are firm when closed by hope's investing power.
The thought is not explained much more fully in the original
than in the translation, but the allusion is sufficiently obvious :
the poet, treating the heart as a flower, assigns to hope the
ANNOTATIONS. 79
function of shutting up its petals; an office thus given by Dr.
Darwin to some of his '* Pellucid forms."
" Guard the coy blossom from the pelting shower,
• " From each chill leaf the silvery drops repel.
And close the timorous floret's golden bell >
So should young Sympathy, &c."
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Note 23, page 26, verse 62.
ShaM widowed wives thy march advancing hail.
This refers to the circumstances mentioned above. Note 9,
page 71.
Note 24, page 26, verse. 63.
And all whom no tyrannic laws control.
Or in the original, *' Every one who is not dependant> as I
am, upon the will of another."
Note 25, page 26, verse 65.
The. gentle breeze shall fan thy stately way.
Nothing can be more beautifully harmonious than the original
language of this stanza. The exact adaptation of sounds to
sense is a school-boy absurdity, founded upon the excessive ad-
miration entertained by early scholars of the expressiveness of
the GreeA; tongue, and is a thing which experiment does ^ not
verify. General notions are all that can foe convJeyedrby nwirc
sounds, and although the harshness or softness of the: lines.
89 ANNOTATIONS.
which desoribe the steady or clamorous march of the Greeki
or Trojans (see the opening of the third book of Hombr's
BiadJ, may coDvey some ideas of discipline or disorder^ yet to
those who are ignorant of the precise meaning of the words^
they can convey e^en those ideas but very imperfectly -, as far^
however, as
" The sound can be an echo to the sense,'*
the present lines instance it very favourably ^ and the text pro-
ceeds as equably and as smoothly as the gentle breeze which it
describes.
Note 26, page 26, verse 66.
In sportive wreaths the Cranes around thee play,
Vdlaca is said, in Mr. Colebrooke's Amera Cdsha, to mean a
small crane. The word is always feminine, and perhaps, there-
fore, means the female bird only: indeed, some of the com*
mentators on this poem call it the female of the f^aca (Jrdea
TorraSs Putea). The rainy season is that of their gestation,
which explains their attachment to the CUoud, and the allusion
to its impregnating faculty mentioned in the text of the original.
The periodical joumies and ordeily flight of this kind of bird,
have long fdmiahed classical poetry with embelli^raents. They
are frequently alluded to by Homer, as are the wild geese, of
which mention is i^so made below :— *>thu8 in the passage of ths
lUad, referred to in the preoeding note; and again. Book it.
line 459.
ANNOTATIONS. 81
*' Not kss their numbeF than th* emhodied cranes^
*' Or milk-white swans in Asia^t watery plains,
'^ That o'er the windings of GiyBter's springs,
'* Stretch their long necks and clap their rustling wings.**
PopB.
The translator has omitted the geese, MiitToii also descrihea
the flight of these birds,
'^ ........ So steers the prudent crane
^^ Her annual voyage, borne on winds.*'
Paradise Lost, vii. 436.
And again, line 442 :
*^ Others on silver lakes and rivers bathed
*' Their downy breast
*^ Yet oft they quit
'< The dank, and rising on stiff penons, tower
*^ The mid aerial sky.**
Note 27, page 27, verse 67*
Pleased on thy Irft, the Chdfyica along.
The Chdtaca is a bird supposed to drink bo water but rain*
water ; of course, he always makes a prominent 6gure in th«
description of wet op cloudy weather. Thus in the rainy sea*
son of our author's Rttu Sanhdra, or Assemblage of the Seasqa^ :
The thirsty Chdtaca impatient eyes
The promised waters of the labouring skies >
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82 ANNOTATIONS^
'' Where hcary CUmAi, with low bat pleasing tong^
" In slow procession mormoring moTe along.'*
In the translated Jmera C6Aa^ it appears that the Chdiaea is
a bird notTet well known, hot that it is possibly the same as
the Pipiha, a kind of cuckoo fCucuUu radiahtt). The term
wkna is rendered by the commentators^ in general^ lefk, on the
left side ; but Ra'm anaVh Turcalanca'ra interprets it beam^
tifiil, and maintains that the cry of birds to be auspicious should
be upon the right side, not upon the left. Bharata Mallica,
however, cites astrological writers to prove that the Chdtica u
one of the exceptions to this rule : — '' Peacocks, Chdtacoi,
Chashas (blue jays), and other male birds, occasionally also
Antelopes, going chearfiiUy along the left, give good fortune
" to the host.*' The Greek notions agreed with those of
Ra'mana't'h, and considered the flight of birds upon the right
side to be auspicious. The Romam made it the left 3 bat
this difference arose from the situation of the observer, as in
both cases the auspicious quarter was the east : the ouofovoXo;
facing the north, and Jnupex the south. In general, according
to the Hindus, those omens which occur upon the left side are
unpropitious. The musical accompaniment described in the
text is perfectly classical: thus Viroil, speaking of thebird8«
has,
" Around, above, the birds of various kind,
'' Charmed all the air with song."— ^netd, yii, 33.
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ANNOTATIONS. 83
Note 28, page 27> verse 71.
The swans for mount CaUdsa shall prepare.
" The Rdjahansas, desirous of going to the lake Mdnasa,
shall accompany thee as far as Caildsa, having laid in their
provisions for the road> from the new shoots of the filaments
•* of the stalk of the lotus," This is the closer reading of the
text. The Rdjahansa is described as a white gander, with red
legs and bill, and together with the common goose is a favourite
bird in Hindu poetry. Not to shock European prejudice, I have
in all cases substituted for these birds, one to which we are
rather more accustomed in ;yer8e, the swan ; which, however,
owes its dignity to the idle fable of its musical death. The
motion of the goose is supposed by the Hindus to resemble the
shuffling walk which they esteem graceful in a woman : thus in
the Bitu Sanhdra, or the Seasons, of our poet, ^
Nor with the goose, the smiling fair.
In graceful motion can compare."
Mount Caildsa is the destination of the Cloud, and the Rdja*
hansas are supposed to migrate annually to the celebrated lake
Mdnasa or Manasarour, which, if it exists at all, lies in the
bosom of the Himdlaya mountains, the supposed situation of
the mythological Caildsa,
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Note 29, page 27, verse 73.
Short be thy greeting to this hill addressed.
The term dprachaswa, in the original, docs not seem to qon-
F 2
84 ANNOTATIONS.
vey any very precise idea : if translated " ask," or *^ address^"
both which meanings may be affixed to it, it still leaves us in
the dark as to the object of the address or inquiry. One com-
mentator explains it '' ask the way/* but this th^ Yacsha is to
tell, not the mountain : the others seem to agree that it mefins
to address, that is, perhaps, to take leave of it, &c. previous
to its departure. The cause of the friendship supposed to exist
between the Cloud and mountain we shall have further occasion
to notice.
Note 30, page 27, verse 74.
This hill with Ra'ma*s holy feet imprest.
In the original text we have, '^ marked with the venerable
^' feet of Raqhupati." This appellation is given to Ra'ma, at
the most distinguished, the lord or master, as it were, of the
line of Raghu, an ancestor of that warrior, and himself a
celebrated hero and sovereign. Ra'ma is hence also termed
Ra'ohava, a regular derivative frc»n Raghu, impljring family
descent. The exploits of the two heroes form the chief subject
'^, of another poem by our author, entitled Raghxoiamd, or the
Race of Raghu. The commentator, BharcUa MaUica, hat
taken much pains with the word padaih, which occurs in the
original, and which, being in the plural number, he is appre-
hensive may be translated '' with many feet,'* he therefore citet
MMini, to shew that it may have other senses, and that it also
implies the mark of a foot, or a mark^ an impression in general.
ANNOTATIONS. 85
and that^ conseqaently, we may render the passage^ " the hill^
whose sides are marked with many traces o£ Ra'ma, or with
many impressions of his feet."
f(
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Note31> page 27, verse 77.
Ytt ere ihj ear can drink whai low insjuresk
To drink with the ear is a figurative expression^ common in
English and classical writers. Thus Shakbspeabs :
*^ My ear hath not yet drunk a hundred words
** Of that tongue's utterance^ yet I know the sound.'*
Romeo and Juliet.
And Horace^ in the 13th Ode of the 2d Book :
'^ But thronging crowds will press to hear,
" And drtnk the strain with eager ear,
'* That tells of bloody fight, or sings
" The downfall of tyrannic kings."
Note 32, page 27, verse 80.
Shall ease thy toils and many a cooling nil.
In the construction of the text of the original, a pleasing
artifice occurs, of which Hindu poets are in the frequent use ;
the repetition of the same word, in order to increase its force,
and heighten its effect : thus we have above khinnah khianah, and
kshinnah kshinnah ; or weary, weary 5 feeble, feeble 5 you may
repose, &c. In no language, perhaps, has this figure been car-
p 3
86 ANNOTATIONS.
ried farther than in the English, and it may be a question whe«
ther^ in the well known
'* Fallen, fallen,
'* Fallen, fallen,
'' Fallen from his high estate,*'
we may not be justified in saying, '* something too much of
this." A fine instance of the figure occurs in Horace's mas-
terly Ode-^Justum et tenacem, &c.
^* The stranger harlot, and the judge unjust,
*' Have levelled Ilion, Ilion, with the dust."
Note 33, page 27, verse 81.
Rise from these streams and seek the upper sky.
We now begin the geographical part of the Poem, which, as
far as it can be made out, through the difference of ancient and
modem appellations, seems to be very accurately conceived.
The two extreme points of the Cloud's progress are the vicinity
of Nagpur, as mentioned in Note 1, page 67, and the moun-
tain CaUdsa, or rather the Himdlaya range. During this course,
the poet notices some of the most celebrated places, with the
greater number of which we are still acquainted. In the first
instance, we have here his direction due north from the moun-
tain of Rdmt^ri} and we shall notice the other points as they
occur.
ANNOTATIONS. 87
Note 34^ page 27, verse 83.
The beauteous Sylphs shaU mark thee with amaze.
Literally, '' the wives of the SiMhasr The Sidd^has are ori-
i;inally human beings, but who, by devout abstraction, have
attained superhuman fKiwers, and a station apparently inter-
mediate between men and gods : they tenant the upper regions
of the air.
Note 35, page 27, verse 86.
Some mountain peak along the air is borne,.
Thus Lucretius (Good*s Translation), Book iv. verse 140 :
^' Mountains hence,
*' And mountain rocks, torn from their base abrupt,
" Seem oft to ho?er, blotting now the sua.*'
Also Book vi, verse 188 :
*' For mark what clouds, of mountain bulk, the winds
" Drive through the welkin, when the tempests ra?e.
Note 36, page 28, verse 87.
The ponderous elephants who prop the skies.
Each of the four quarters, and the four intermediate points
of the compass, has, according to the Hindus, a regent or pre-
siding deity. Each of these deities also has his male and female
elephant : the names of them all are enumerated in the Am/era
Cdsha i see Mr. Colbbrgokb's translation.
F 4
gg ANNOTATIONS.
Note 37, page 28^ Verse 91.
EaBtwardj where tearious gems vjith bkndmg ray.
A reference to the map will sbew^ that it was necessary for
the Cloud to begin the tour by travelling towards the east, in
order to get round the lofty hills which in a manner form the
eastern boundary of the Vind'hya chain. It would otherwise have
been requisite to have taken it across the most inaccessible part
of those mountains, where the poet could not hare accompanied
it, and which would also have ofiended some peculiar notions
entertained by the Hindus of the VuuThyu hiUs, as we shall again
have occasion to remark.
Note 38, page 28, verse 92.
In Ikdiia*s bow o'er yonder hillock play,
Indra*s bow is the Rainbow.
Note 39, page 28, verse 94.
As Peacocks' plumes ^around a Crishna spread.
The body of Crishna is represented of a dark blue colour,
and the plumes of the peacock are frequently arranged upon the
images of this deity. The plumage of this bird has been often
compared to the Rainbow ; thus Miltok, in the 7th Book,
liiie 445, of Faradise Lost :
'* Whose gay train
'^ Adorns him,, o^oured with the florid hue
*' Of Rainbows and stany eyes/*
ANNOTATIONS. 89
The colour of the ck>ad aad that of the deity heing similar,
we thus have a rery close aad pleasing comparisoa.
Note 40, page 28, verse 95.
Direct thy course, to Mend's smiling ground.
It is not easy, after the lapse of ages, to ascertain precisely
the scite of several places enumerated in the poem before us.
The easterly (progress of the Cloud, and the subsequent direction
by which he is to reach the mountain Amracuia, prove that the
place h^re mentioned must be somewhere in the immediate
vicinity of Ruttanpour, the chief town of the northern half of
the province of Cheteesger*h, and described in Captain Blunt* s
Tour, Asiatic Researches, vol. viij and also in that of the
intelligent though anonymous traveller, in the Asiatic Annual
Register for 1806. The only modern traces that can be found
of it are in a place called Malda, a little to the north of Button*
pour. In Ptolemy* 8 map there is a town called Maleta, and
situated, with respect to the Vwd'hya mountains, , similarly
with the Mdla of Our poet. I should have supposed that the
Mala mentioned from the geography of the Put&nas by Mr.
WiLFORD (Asiatic Researches^ vol. viii. p. 336) > was the same
with the place alluded to in the text of Ca'lioa'sa : if however
that gentleman is correct in applpng die name to the Maibhoom
of Midnapour, it will be much further to the east than will do
for our present purpose, and must be an entirely different place*
There is little reason to think that either of these Mdlai are the
90 ANNOTATIONS.
country of the Malli who are mentioned by Pliny, and who are
more probably the same with the MoXXoi of Jrrian, and the
inhabitants, as is stated by Major Rennell, of the province of
MuUan.
Note 41, page 28, verse 100.
On Amrac£ita*8 lofty ridges rest.
The course pointed out to the Cloud, and an allusion which
follows to the vicinity of the Narmada river, furnish us with
reasons for supposing, that the mountain, here mentioned, is
that more commonly designated by the name of Omercuniuc,
The change of sound is not more violent, than it is in a number
of evident corruptions from the Sanscrit language, now current
in the dialects of India, The term Amracuta means the Mango
Teak, and refers to the abundance of Mango trees in the incum-
bent and surrounding forests. Should this conjecture be cor-
rect, it will invalidate the derivation assigned with some ingenuity
to the word Omercuntuc, in a prefatory note to a pleasing little
oriental poem, published in England, called the Metamorphosis
of Sona, The author of that note imagines the proper name
to be Omer Chajfidaca, and he is happy in the affinity of the
sound, though not in his definition of the sense, as '' the iiS".
*^ trict of Omer,'* is exceedingly unmeaning and erroneous.
Jmer Chandaca might mean the ** immortal portion," but I do
not know of any reason for assigning such an epithet to the
mountain in question.
ANNOTATIONS. 91
Note 42, page 28, verse 103.
Not e'en the vilest, when a falling friend.
The Hindus have been the object of much idle panegyric, and
equally idle detraction 5 some writers have invested them with
every amiable attribute, and they have been deprived by others
of the common virtues of humanity. Amongst the excellencies
denied to them, gratitude has been always particularized j and
there are many of the European residents in India, who scarcely
imagine that the natives of the country ever heard of such a
sentiment. To them, and to all detractors on this head, the
above verse is a satisfactory reply $ and that no doubt of its
tenor may remain, I add the literal translation of the original
passage, " Not even a low man, when laid hold of for support
" by a friend, will turn away his face with forgetfalness of
" former kindness ! how therefore should the exalted act thus ?**
Note 43, page 29, verse 112.
And with thy orb as with a nipple crowned.
We have something of this comparison reversed in Shake-
-ePEARB^s beautiful song :
" Hide, oh hide, those hills of snow,
^' Which thy frozen bosom bears,
" On whose tops the pinks that grow,
'' Are of those that April wears.*'
92 ANNOTATIONS.
Note 44j page 29> verse 11 3*
Next bending downwards from thy lofty flight.
The mountain here mentioned must he in the vicinity of
Omercuntuc, and part of the same range : the name signifies
*' the variegated or wonderful peak^" and is applied to a number
of hills. The most famous hUl of this name^ as was mentioned
in the first note> is situated in Bendelc*hand,
Note 4b, page 29, verse 119.
Thence journeying onwards Vind'hya's ridgy chain.
The Find'hya range of mountains holds a very distinguished
Station both in the mythology and geography of Hmdoostcm.
These points are both discussed at some length in the Tour from
Mirzapore to Nagpore, already cited ; and as^ in those passages
which I have been able to investigate, I find a perfectly accurate
statement^ I shall here transcribe the words of its author.
'' Bind^h, in Sanscrit named Find'hya, constitutes the limit
'^ between Hindoostan and the Deccan -, the most ancient Hindu
'^ authors assign it as the southern boundary of the region,
^' which they denominate Aryahhuma ot Aryaverta. Modem
'^ authors, in like manner, make this the line which discrimi-
^' nates the northern from the southern nations of India. It
'^ reaches almost from the eastern to the western sea ; and the
<' highest part of the range deviates little from the line of the
tropic. The mountainous tract, however, which retains the
appellation, spreads much more widely -, it meets the Ganges
it
€€
ANNOTATIONS. 93
" in several places towards the norths and the Godaveri is held
^' to be its southern limit
*' Sanscrit etymologists deduce its name from a circumstance
^' to which I haye just novt alluded. It is called Bwutfufa, says
'^ the author of a Commentary on the Amercosh, because peo-
*' pie think (dhydifanti) the progress of the sun is obstructed
*' (hamdha) by it. Suitably to this notion^ the most elevated
*< ridge of this tropical range of mountains is found to run from
*' a point that lies between Chhota Nagpore and Palamu, to
" another that is situated in the vicinity of Ougein, But the
'' course of the Nermada river better indicates the direction of
'' the principal range of the Find'h hills. From Amr acuta,
^' where this river has its source, on the same spot with the Sone
*' and the Hatsu, to the gulf of Cambaya, where it disembogues
'^ itself into the sea, the channel of the Nermada is confined by
*' a range of hills, or by a tract of elevated ground, in whicb
'^ numerous rivers take their rise ; and by their subsequent
'^ course towards the Sone and Jamuna on one side, and towards
the Tapti and Oodaver on the other, sufficiently indicate the
superior elevation of that tract though which the Nermada has
*' forced its way.
" The vast extent of this mountainous tract, contrasted with
" the small elevation of these hillsj viewed from the plains of
Hindoostan, has furnished grounds for a legend, to which the
mythological writings of the Hindtis often allude. Vind'hya
havii^ once prostrated biootself before bis spiritual guKle,
te
<e
<€
tjt
€€
e(
t<
<<
94 ANNOTATIONS.
^^ Agastta, still remains in that posture by command of the
holy personage. This humiliation is the punishment of his
presumption^ in emulating the lofty height of Himdlaya'KiA
Mera, According to this legend, Vind'hya has one foot at
'' Chunar ; and hence the real name of that fortress is said to
'' be Cherenadri : his other foot is, I think placed, by the same
legend, in the vicinity of Gayao, The vulgar, very inconsist-
ently, suppose the head of the prostrate mountain near the
temple of Vindhya Vasini, four miles from Mvrzapore"
t<
t<
f€
Note 46, page 29, verse 1 20.
And Riva's rill that bathes its foot attain.
The Riva is a name of the Nermada river, which, as we have
seen in the preceding note, rises from the mountain Amracutd
or Omercuntuc, It may be here observed, that the rivers are
always personified by the Hindus, and are in general female
personifications. Thus we have Gang a', the daughter of
Ja*hnuj Yamuna, the daughter of the Sun; and Revd or
Nermddd, the daughter of Himala, as is said in the hymn,
translated from the Vayu Purdnd, and given by Captain Blunt,
Asiatic Researches, vol. vii. p. 103. The names of the Nermada
river are thus stated in the Amera C6sha, *' Reva, Nermadd,
'^ S6m6dbhavd, and Mecala-Canyaca,** which are explained by
the best commentators thus : '' who flows, who delights, who is
descended from the line of the moon, and who is the daughter of
Mecala.** The last term k applied either to the VMChya
ANNOTATIONS. 95
mountain^ or is considered to be the name of a Rishi or sunt^
and progenitor of the river Goddess. Tradition has assigned to
this river a very Ovidian kind of tale^ which is related in Cap-
tain Blunt* s Tour, and which has been repeated in verse, with
much elegance and spirit, by the author of the Metamorphosis
of Sona.
Note 47, page 30, verse 121.
She wins her way, and washes Jambu bowers.
The rose-apple (eugeniajambooj^
Note 48, page 30, verse 128.
The juice exuding fragrant from Ms head.
It is rather extraordinary that this juice, which exudes from
the temples of the elephant, especially in the season of rut,
should have been unnoticed by writers on natural history. I
have not found any mention of it in the works of Buffon, nor
in the more recent publication of Shaw -, neither do any other
writers on this subject seem to have observed it. The author
of the Wild Sports of the East states, that ^' on each side of
the elephant*s temples there is an aperture, about the size of a
pin's head, whence an ichor exudes 3** but he does not appear
to have been aware of its nature : indeed his descriptions,
though entertaining, are frequently defective, owing to his^
extreme ignorance of the languages, the literature of which
he so liberally devotes to the flames. In the Jmera C6sha, this
ft
te
96 ANNOTATIONS.
fluid is termed madhah or ddnam, and the elephant^ while it
flows is distinguished by the terms prabhinndgarjjitdmattah, ^xmd
the aDimal out of rut^ or after the juice has ceased to exude^
and who is then called^ uddhdntah or nifTnadah, AU these
names are expressive of the circumstances ; the exudation and
fragrance of this fluid is frequently alluded to in Sanscrit poetry ;
its scent is commonly compared to the odour of the sweetest
flowers^ and is then supposed to deceive and attract the bees.
These circumstances occur in this passage from a work already
referred to, the Rttu Sanhdra :
" Roars the wild elephant inflamed with love,
" And the deep sound reverberates from above -,
His ample fronts like some rich lotus, shews
Where sport the bees, and fragrant moisturejiowg.**
te
<t
Note 49, page 31, verse 147.
Or can the Peacock^s animated hail.
The wild peacock is exceedingly abundaat in many parts of
Hindoostaa, and is especially found in marshy places. The
habits of this bird are in a great measure aquatic, and the
setting in of the rains is the season ia which they pear 5 the
peacock is, therefore, always introduced in the description of
cloudy or rainy weather, together with the Cranes and Chdtacas,
whom we have already had occasion to notice. Thus, in a little
poem, descriptive of the rainy season, &c. entitled Ghataearpofa,
the author says, addressing his mistress :
ANNOTATIONS. 97
'VOh tfaouj whose teeth enamelled Tie :
'* With smiling Cttn<ia*f pearly ray,
" Hear how the Peacock's amorous cry
^' Salutes the dark and eloudy day/*
And again^ .in one of the <Sa/aciM or Centos' of Bkajbltri Hari,
wh^re he is describing the same season :
" When smiling forests; whence the tuneful cries •
*' Of clustering pea-fowls shrill and frequent xise,
" Teach tender feelings to each human breast,
" And please alike the happy or distressed.";
Note 50, page31> verse: 150. ^
Dasdma's fields await the coming showers. '
No traces of this name are to be found in modern maps. It
is enumerated in Major Wilford's lists from the Pur anas ^
Asiatic Research es> voU.viii, amongst.the countries situated be-
hind the Vmd'kya mountains, and^ corresponds, according to
him, with tht Dosareneoi Ptolemy and the Pcr^te. ; Ptolemy's
map has also a Dosarei and Dosaronis Fluvium^ and in the Pou-
ranic list of rivers there is also- a Dosama river, which is said
to rise from the mojantain Chitraeutal It may possibly corres-
pond, at least in part, with, the modem v district of Cheteesger*h,
as the etymology of both words refers to. similar circumstances.
Cheteesgefh is so named from, its being supposed to comprise
thirty-six forts ; and . according to Bharata^ the commentator
on our text, Dasdrna is: derived from. Dasa, i ten, and Bjna, a
o
98 ANNOTATIONS.
strong hold or DurgAj the Droog of tlie Peninsula, and thence
means the district of the Ten Ctiadeb^
Note 51, page 31, verse 151.
Then shall the andeni tree whose branches wear,
A number of trees receive particular veneration from the
Hindus; as the Indian £g, the Holy fig tree, the Xlyrobdlen
trees, &c. In most villages there is at least one of these, which
is considered particularly sacred, and is carefully kept and wa-
tered by the villagers, is hung occasionally with garlands, and
receives the Prandm, or veneratory inclination of the head, or
even offerings and libations. The birds mentioned in the text
by the epithet gnhavdHbhttj, are the Vacas or cranes ; the term
signifies, ^' who eats the food of his female,** grtha, commonly
a house, meaning in this compound a wife. At the season of
pairing, it is said that the female of this bird assists in feeding
the male ; and the same circumstance is stated with respect to
the crow and the sparrow, Whence the same epithet is applied
to them also.
Note 52, page 31, verse 157.
Where royal Vtdisd confers renown,
Vidisa is described as the capital of the district of Dasdma,
It appears to be the modem BhUsah, in the proyince of Mdksa,
It is still a place of some note, and is well known in In^ for
the superior quality of the tobacco raised in its vicinity.
ANNOTATIONS. 99
Note 53, page 31, verse 159.
There VdtrdvatVs stream ambrosial laves.
The V^TRAVATi is the modern Betwah; it rises on the north
side of the Vind^kya chain, and pursuing a north-easterly course
of 345 miles, traverses the province of Malwa, and the south-
west comer of Jllahahad, and falls into the Jumna helow
Calpee, In the early part, of its course it passes through Bhilsa
or Vidisa,
Note 54, page 32, verse 163.
Next o'er the lesser hills- thy flight suspend.
The term in the text is explained hy the commentators, to
signify either the hUl named Nichais; a mountainous range of
little note ; or, of little elevation. It is of no great moment \
but perhaps the latter, which meaning we select, is the most
satisfactory.
Note 55, page 32> verse 1^4.
And growth erect to drooping flowrets lend.
This passage more literally rendered, is '* that hill which
'' with upright flowers is like the body with its hair on end"
The erection of the hairs of the body is with the Hindus con-
stantly supposed to be the effect of pleasure or delight.
- j& 2
100 ANNOTATIONS.
Note 56, page 32, yerse 167.
On Naga NadVs banks thy waters shed*
Some of the commentators notice yarious readings of the
name of this river, which occurs as given in the translation,
Naga Nadi, the mountain stream j Nava Nadi, the new river -,
and Va7ia Nadi, the forest river. It is prohahly one amongst a
numher of small streams falling from the Vind'hya range of hills^
and indeed the whole province of Malwa abounds in water; so
tha"", as is stated in the Ayeen Acbery, ** you cannot travel two
'* or three cose without meeting with streamJs of good water,
" whose banks are shaded by the wild willow and other trees^
*' and decorated with the hyacinth and other beautiful and odo-
** riferous flowers." Gladwin's Translation, vol, ii. — I have
given the preference to the Naga Nadi as above, from finding
a river west of the Betwah, which we have crossed, named the
Parbatty, and which, rising in the Vind'hya chain, runs north-
west, till it joins another, called in Abrowsmith's map the
Sepra, and the two together fall into the Chumbul, The word
Parbatty, or Paroaf^, means sprung from the mountains, and *
Naga Nadi, as I have mentioned, bears a similar import ; so
that they possibly are synbnimes of the same stream.
Note 57, page 32, verse 171.
As while the garlands flowery stores tfiey seek.
The use of garlands in the decoration of the houses and tem-
ples of the Hindus, and of flowers in their ofierings and festivals^
ANNOTATIONS. 101
furnishes employment to a particular tribe or cast^ the Mdla^
cdras or wreath makers} the females of this cast are here
alluded to.
Note 58, page 32, verse 177.
To fair UjainVs palaces and pride.
Ujayini, or the modem Oujein, is supposed to have been the
residence of our poet, and the capital of his celebrated patron,
Vicrama'ditya. Few cities, perhaps, can boast of a more
continuous reputation, as it has been a place of great note from
the earliest periods of Hindu tradition down to the present day.
It is now in the possession of the family of Sindiah, and is the
capital of his territories. A full and highly interesting account
of it is to be found in the sixth volume of the Asiatic Researches,
in the narrative of a journey from Agrq to this city, by the
late Dr. Hunter 3 a gentleman, the activity of whose mind
was only equalled by the accuracy of his judgment, and the
extensiveness of whose acquirements was only paralleled by the
unwearied continuance of his exertions. His recent death has
inflicted a severe blow upon literature in general, and particu-
larly upon the literature of the East.
Note 59, page 32, verse 179.
Those glancing eyes, those lightning looks unseen,
TJbus Towo, speaking of Oorinda .•
" Keen flash her eyes, her looks like lightning glow.**
G 3
102 ANNOTATIONS.
Note 60, page 32, verse 180.
Dark are thy days, and thou in vain hast been.
The expression of the poet is simply, '' if you do not enjoy
*' the glances, &c. you are defrauded ;'* and the commentators
explain it by adding, " of the object of your life." That is, if
you have not seen these beauties, you might as well have been
blind, or not have existed at all. This compliment is rather ky*'
perbolical; but we are acquainted with it in Europe, and iht
Italian proverb, *' He who has not seen Rome has not seen any
'* thing,'* conveys a similar idea.
Note 61, page 33, verse 182.
Where eddying waters fair Nirvind*hya leads.
This stream has not been found by name in the maps ; butt
number of small rivers occur between the Parbatty and the
river mentioned below, the Sipra, one of which must be the
Nirvind^hya of the poet. The four following lines, descriptive
of the female personification of the current, are englished, m*
ther with respect to the sense than the words, the plainness of
which might perhaps offend European fastidiousness. There
is not, however, any one of Cik^LiDA'sA's river ladies who be-
haves so indecorously as several of Drayton*s similar personifi-
cations, and there is not one of them possessed of speech at all,
to say nothing of such speech as is made use of by the Hayk,
and other like *^ lusty nymphs " of that author's Poly-album,
ANNOTATIONS. lOa
Note 62, page 33> verse 187.
The torrent passed, behold the Sindhu glide.
This is a stream also with which the maps are not acquainted
by Dame 3 as, )ioweYer> it is the nearest river to Oujein, it may
probably, be, the sai^e with, that now called Sdgurmuttee, The
river ha,viqg been diminislbed by the preceding hot weather^ the
poet compares it to a long single braid of hair 5 and conformably
to the personification of it as a ^ female^ he supposes the braid
to have been bound, in consequence of the absence of the
Cloud, after the fashion in which the hair is worn by those
women whose husbands are absent : a custom we shall again
be called upon to notice.
Note 63, page 33, verse 192.
Her lagging waters and her leafy shore.
The synonimes of Oujem are thus enumerated in the Voca-
bulary of HAnachandra : '^ Ujjaymi, Visdld, Avanti, and Pushpa*
earandinV*
Npte 64, page 33, verse 195.
Renowned for deeds that worth and looe inxpvre.
I have here taken some liberty with the text, the literal
translation of which is, '* famous for the story of Udatana^
*^ and the populous residence of the learned.'* The story of
Udayanta, or Vatsara'ja, as he is also named, is thus told
concisely, by the commentators on the poem: PRADTdrA was a
o 4
104 ANNOTATIONS.
sovereign of Oujein, who had a daughter nfiimed VA'sAVADATTA^
and whom he intended to bestow in marriage upon a king of the
nieime of Sanjata. In the mean time^ the princess sees the figure
of Vatsara'ja, sovereign of Ctisha Dimpa, in a dream, and be-
comes enamoured of him 5 she contrives to inform -him of her
love, and he carries her off from her father and his rival. The
same story is alluded to in the Malati Mcidhava, a Drama, hj
Bhavabhu'tij but neither in that nor in the commentary on the
Mdgha Duta, is mention made of the author^ or of the work
in which it is related. Mr. Colebrooke, in his learned Essay
on SanscrU wcidi Pracrit Prosody, in the 10th volume of the
Asiatic Researches, has stated, that the allusion of Bhava-
bhu'ti was unsupported by other authority, not having perhaps
noticed the similar allusion in this poem. He has also given
an abstract of the Vdsavadattd of Subano*hu y a tale which
corresponds, in many points, with that of Udatava, as here
explained.
Note 65, page 34, verse 200.
The only recompense then left to heaven.
To understand this properly, it is necessary to be acquainted
with some of the Hindu notions regarding a future state. The
highest kind of happiness is absorption into the divine essence^
or the return of that portion of spirit which is combined with
the attributes of humanity, to its original source. This happi-
ness, according to the Philosopher^ is to be attained only by the
ANNOTATIONS. 105
most perfect abstraction from the world, and freedom frbm
passion^ even while in a state of terriestrial existence. * But
there are certain places, which, in the popular creed, are inves-
ted with so much sanctity, as to entitle all who die within their
precincts to final absorption or annihilation ; one of these is
Oujein or Avanti, and they are all enumerated in this verse :
'' Ayod'hyii, MaVhurd, Mdyd, Cdd, Cdnchi, Avanticd, and the
'* city Dwdrdvati, are the seven places which grant eternal hap-
" piness.*'
Besides this ultimate felicity, the Hindus' have several minor
degrees of happiness 5 amongst which is the enjoyment of
1ndra*s Swerga, or in fact- of a Mohummedan paradise. The
degree and duration of the pleasures of this paradise are propor-
tioned to the merits of those admitted to it, and '' they who
have enjoyed this lofty region of Swerga, but whose virtue is
exhausted, revisit the habitation of mortals.*' The case now
alluded to seems however to be something different from that so
described by Sir- Wm. Jones. It appears, by the explanation of
the Commentators, that the exhausted pleasures of iSwerga had
proved insufficient for the recompence of certain acts of auste-
rity, which however were not such as to merit final emanci-
pation ; the divine persons had therefore to seek elsewhere for
the balance of their reward, and for that purpose they returned
to earth, bringing with them the fairest portion of Swerga, in
which they continued to live in the discharge of pious duties,
till the whole account was settled^ and their liberated spirits
<t
t<
106 ANNOTATIONS.
were reanited with tbe greats uniform^ and primeval essence.
The portion of Swergaihiis brought to earth was the city Jvcmti,
whose superior sanctity and divine privileges are here alluded to,
and thus explained by the poet.
Note 66, page 34j verse 201.
Here as the early Zephyrs waft along.
S9 in Paradise Lost, Book iv, line 641 :
*' Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising sweet,
J, '' With charm of earliest birds.*'
And again, in Samson Agimistes .*
: '^ The breath of heaven fresh blowing, pure and sweety
^ *' With day-spring bom."
Note 67, page 34, verse 207.
And cool from Svjpra^s gelid ^joves.
The Sipra is the xiver upon the banks of which Omfein standi^
and which is called Sipparah in the maps. In AiuiowsMiT]t>
however, there is another stream with a similar name, the Sipr^
wl^ch appears to be a continuation of the Sagarmuttee, oonsi*
de^ably to the north-east of Oujem» There can be no doubt of
thp position of the river mentioned by the poet.
Npjte 68, page 34, verse 212.
I 0*er every Jhor the painted footstep treads.
^taining the soles of the feet vrith a red polour, derived frov
ANNOTATIONS. 107
the Mehndee, the Lck, &c. is a favourite practice of the Hindu
toilet. It is thus elegantly alluded to in the ode to one of the
female personifications of music^ the RcLgini Asauybrbb :
" The rose hath humhly howed to meet^
" With glowing lips^ her hallowed feet,
" And lent them all its bloom." %
Hindu odes by John David Patekson, Esq. published in
the new series of Gladwin's Oriental Miscellany, Calcutta,
Note 69, page 35, verse 219.
Hence with new zeal to Siva homage pay.
The commentators have thought proper^ in explaining this
verse and the preceding^ to transpose the order of the explana-
tions 3 I do not see for what reason, and have therefore confor-
med to the text.
Note 70, page 35, verse 220.
77ie GrOD whom earth, and hell, and heaven obey.
Lord of the three worlds, is the expression of the original
text. The worlds are, Swerga ot hearta, Paktla or hell, and
Bhumi or the earth.
Note 71, page 35, verse 222.
fiis necks celestial blue.
The dark blue of the cloud is compared to the colour of the
neck of Siva, which became of this hue, upon his swallowing
<€
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108 ANNOTATIONS.
the poison produced at the churniDg of the ocean. The story^ is
thus related in Wilkins*s translation of an episode of the
Mahabhdrat, affixed to his Bhdgavat Gita, ** As they continued
to churn the ocean more than enough^ that deadly poison
issued from its bed^ burning like a raging fire^ whose dreadful
" fiimes in a moment spread throughout the world, confounding
''the three regions of the universe with its mortal stench,
*' until See V, at the word of BrahmaV swallowed the fatal
drug to save mankind, which remaining in the throat of that
sovereign Dew of magic form, from that time he was called
'* Neel-kant^ because his throat was stained blue."
€€
«
Note 72; page 35, verse 228.
Till evening brings its sacred ritual, rest.
There are three daily and essential ceremonies performed by
the Brahmans, termed Sandhyds, either from the word Sand^hi,
junction, because they take place at the joinings of the day as
it were, that is, at dawn, noon, and twilight^ or as the term is
otherwise derived from sam with, and d^hydi to meditate religi-
ously. When' the ceremonies of the Sand^hya are of a public
nature, they comprehend the ringing of bells, blowing the
Conch, beating a tabor, &c. 3 and this kind of sound the Cloud
is directed by the Yacsha to excite^ as an act of devotion.
ANNOTATIONS. 109
Note 73, page 35, verse 233.
In MAHAD^VA's/(xne the meamre tread.
The female attendants upon the idol.
Note 74, page 35, verse 234.
Or wave the gorgeous chowrie o'er his head.
The Chowrie, or more properly Chounri, is a brush of Pea-
cock's feathers, or the tail of a particular kind of Cow^.&c.
set in a handle of such materials as suit the fancy, or the means
of the proprietor. It is used as a fan, or to whisk off flies and
other insects, and this piece of attention is always paid by the
Hindus to the figures of their gods.
Note 75, page 36, verse 236.
fVhose glances gleam like bees along the sky.
Although ihis allusion may be new to European imagery, it is
I
just and pleasing. The consequence of the glance is well con-
veyed by the sting of the bee, while its poetically radiating
nature is not unaptly compared to the long flight of a line of
these insects. The lengthened light of a glance is familiar to
us, for Shakbspearb speaks of " Eyes . streaming through the
'^ airy region ;" and the continuous flight of bees was noticed
so long back as the time of Homes, who describes them as
proceeding in branches, a circumstance which his translator
Pope has omitted :
'^ Branching they fly abroad o*er vernal flowers.*'
1 10 ANNOTATIONS.
Or as in Pope^
*' Clust*ring in heaps on heaps the driving hees/' &c.
Etymologists might find a resemblance here between the Greek
VBTOilati, and the Sanscrit Paianti, they go^ fall^ or alight.
Note 7^, page 36, verse 238.
Cool the parched earth, and soothe their tender feet.
It is to be recollected, that these ladies are dancing bare-
footed 5 divesting the feet of the shoes upon entering an apart-
ment, being a mark of reverence or respect exacted by oriental
arrogance, and readily paid by oriental servility.
Note 77, page 36, verse 239.
Nay more, Bhava'ni sihaU Iterself approve,
Brava'ni is one of the many names of the consort of Siva.
The reason of her satisfaction, and indeed the whole of this pas-
sage, although familiar to a Hindu, and although much amplified
in the translation, requires a little explanation to be rendered in-
telligible to the English reader. Siva is supposed to be dancing
at the performance of the evening Sand'hya, and to have assumed
as his cloak ^he bloody skin of an elephant, formerly belonging
to an Asur destroyed by him. As this is no very seemly omar
ment, Buava'ni is delighted to find it supplied by the Cloud,
which being of a dusky red, through the reflexion of the China
roses now abundant, and, being skirted, as it overhangs a forest^
by the projecting branches of trees, resembles the elephant hide
ANNOTATIONS. Ill
in coloar and its dangling limbs, as well as in its bulk, and is
mistaken for it by Siva in his rdigioos enthusiasm. The office
performed by the Cloud has often been assigned to it in the
West : thus Horace, Ode 2, Book 1,
'' Or come Apollo, versed in fate, and shroud
'* Thy shining shoulders with a veiling cloud."
So Milton, in his Penseroso, speaking of the morning, describes
it as
*' Kerchiefed in a comely cloud.*'
Lbe invests sentiments of the mind with a similar garb, and has,
''/ For true repentance never comes too late ;
'^ As soon as bom she makes herself a shroud,
'' The weeping mantle of a fleecy cloud.'*
And a Poet of later day, but of no inferior name, has made
a very fine use of this figure.
** Iv'e known her long, of worth most excdlent^
But in the d^y of woa she ever rose
Upon the mind with added majesty,
" As the dark mountain more sublimely towers,
" ManUed in clouds and storm."
Miss Baillis's De Montfort.
Ilic action, tl^e elephant skin, and other attributes of SfvA,
are well described in a passage cited by Mr. Colbbkookb in his
Essay on Sanscrit Prosody, from the Drama of Bhavabbu'ti,
though there assigned to a form of his consort, Durga'^ which,
with the leading member of the sentence, may be thus rendered :
€t
€€
112 ANNOTATIONS.
'^ M^iy from thy. dance terrific spring success f •
'' The elephant hide that from thy. waist depends,
" Swings to thy motions, and the whirling claw»
^' Have rent the crescent that adorns thy crest ;
** From the torn orb immortal Amrit falls.
And as the drops celestial trickle down.
They dew thy necklace, and each hollow skuU
'^ Laughs loud with life : attendant spirits yield
" The shout of wonder and the song of praise.**^
€<
€(
Note 78, page 36, verse 251,
Amidst the darkness palpable that shrouds.
So MiLT0N*s celebrated expression :
'^ And through. the palpable obscure find out
'* His uncouth way,"
The literal interpretation of the original passage is, '^ the dark-
" ness that may be pierced with a needle.**
Note 79, page 37, verse 255.
To those fond fair who tread the royal way, ••
We must here make an allowance for Indian prejudices, which
always assign. the active part. of amorous intercourse to the fe-
male, and make . the mistress seek her lover, not the . lover his
mistress.
ANNOTATIONS. 113
Note 80, page 37, verse 268.
The dewy tears that stain the Padma*s face.
The Padma is a name of that exquisitely beautiful flower, the
lotus. Comparing the dew to tears occurs thus in the Latin
Anthology in the Idyllium de Rosa :
" Whom weeping marked the early eastern gale.*'
And again Shakbspeabe, in the Midsummer NighVs Dream :
" That same dew, which sometime on the buds
" Was wont to swell, like round and orient pearls,
^' Stood now within the pretty flow*ret*s eyes,
" Like tears'*
Note 81, page 38, verse 271.
Now to Gamhhira's wave thy shadow flies.
This river and the Gandhavati, in the vicinity of the temple of
SivA, which lately occurred, are probably amongst the numerous
and nameless brooks with which the province of Malwa abounds.
Note 82, page 38, verse 277.
Which glistening Sapharas insidious dart.
Tht Saphara is described as a small white glistening fish,
which darting rapidly through the water, is not unaptly com-
pared to the twinkling glances of a sparkling eye. Assigning
the attributes of female beauty to a stream ceases to be incon-
gruous, when we advert to its constant personification by the
Hindus ; and it is as philosophical as it is poetical to affiance a
-114 ANNOTATIONS.
river and a cloud. The smiles of nftvs, nay of the ocean itself,
have often been distributed by poetical imagination : thus Lucre*
tins invoking Venus says^
'* The ocean waves tctugh on you.**
For his late translator, Mr. GOO0, is very angry at the coilTer-
sion of this laugh into a smile, as effected by the less daring of
his predecessors. Milton, again, gives the Ocean nose as weH
as dimples :
" Cheered with the grateful smell old Ocean smiles.'*
And Metastasio, in his beautiful ode to Venus, has,
*^ The waves now placid play,
" And laugh amidst the deep.'*
All these, however, as well as our author, are far surpassed
by Drayton, in his Poly-Alhi&n, where hill and dale, forest
and liver, are constantly described with male or female attri*
butes. With respect to the streams, he is not satisfied witli
wedding them to various objects, but fairly subjects them to tfr^
pains of parturition. The instances are frequent 5 but we may
be content with the following, especially as it is explained 9Xki
defended by his very learned illustrator.
*' When Pool, quoth she, was young, a lusty sea*bom lass,
" Great Albion to this nymph an earnest suitor was,
*' And bare himself so well, and so in favour eame^
*' That he> in little time, upon this lovely datne
<« Begot three maiden isles^ his darlings and delight***'
ANNOTATIONS. Ili5
'' As Albion (son of NEPttJWE), from whom that first name
*' of this BrUam Wi^ ^upposed^ is weU fitted to the fruitful hed
'' of this Pooly thus personated as a sea nymph^ the plain truth
" (as w6Vd« may certify yout eyes^ saving ail impropri^y of
^^ ohject) is^ that io the Pool are seated three isles, Bruntsey,
*' Fursey, and 1^ Helen's, in situation and magnitude as I name
^* them : nor is the fiction of begetting the isles improper,
*' seeing Greek antiquities tell us of divers in the Mediterranean
^' and the Archiipelagus, as Rhodes, Delus, Hiera, the Echinades,
*' and Others, which have been, as it were, brought forth out
'^ of the salt womb of Amphitrite.*' Sblden's lUnstrations.
Note 83, page 38, verse 281.
Overhanging Bayas, in thy grasp enclosed*
The V^tasa or Bayas, is a kind of reed growing near brooks :
I am not aware if the botanists have yet assigned it any scien-
tific name. The translation of the whole of this passage is not
very literal.
Note 84, ,page 38^ v^rse 2IS5.
Hud hows the lofty summits cf the trees.
So SHAKESPBiyRE'is Cymheline :
♦* As th* wind,
*' That by the top doth take the mountain pine^
'' And make him stoop to this vak."
H 2
116 ANNOTATIONS.
Note 85, page 38, verse 287.
And pure with Jragrance thai the earth in Jlowers
Repays
Thus in Sir Philip Sydney's ** Remedie for Love :**
'* And sweet as after gentle showers,
^' The breath is of some thousand flowers."
Note 86, page 39, verse 290.
To Dhagiri wings its welcome Jlight.
Devagiri is the mountain of the Deity, and may, perhaps, be
the same with a place called in the map Dewc^r, situated south
of the Chumbul, in the centre of the province of Malwa, and
precisely in the line of the Cloud's progress, which, as we shall
hereafter find, has been continued nearly due north from Ot/^em*
This hill is the scite of a temple of Cartic^ta, which, as well
as that of Siva, described above, we must suppose to have
enjoyed, in the days of antiquity, considerable reputation, or
they would not have been so particularly specified in the poem.
Note 87, page 39, verse 291.
There change thy form, and showering roses shed.
The Cloud, as the commentators say, is directed to fall in
flowers, because it can take what shape it pleases. We gene-
rally understand a poet much better than we comprehend his
learned and laborious annotators : raining flowers, or by autho-
ANNOTATIONS. 117
rity^ roses^ is a common event in English poetry. Thas Thom-
son^ in the opening of h\^ Spring:
" . . • Veiled in a shower
'^ Of shadowing roses^ on our plains descend."
And Milton^ rather more intelligibly :
'' The flowery roof
'^ Showered roses."
Note 88, page 39, verse 292.
BcUhed in the dews of heaven, on Scanda's head.
*^ Moistened with the waters of the Mandcunni/* the celestial
Ganges, Scanda, or CARTiciYA, is the son of Siva and Par-
VATi, and the Mars of Hindu mythology. There are various
legends respecting his birth, one of which is presently noticed
by the poet.
Note 89, page 39, verse 293.
Son of the Crescent's God, whom holy ire.
Several instances of the solitary production of oflfispring occur
in the Hindu as well as in the Grecian mythology. Thus as
Pallas sprang from the brow of Jupiter, we have Scanda
generated solely by the deity Sivaj Gukoa springs from the
head of the skme deity ; and Gan^sa is the self-bom son of the
goddess Par v ATI. The miraculous birth of the warrior deity,
Scanda, was for the purpose of destroying Taraca, an Jsur or
H 3
US ANNOX^LTIOQvrar.
demoiiy wiio, by. tke perfonnanoe of oontiaiicd «ni wrert aus*
terities^ had acquired powers foimidable ' t» tile gpods.! The ec-
centric genius of Southet *ba» rendered it unnecessary^ by his
last poem^ The Curse of Kekdma, f<Mr me to explain the nature^
or results^ of these acts of devotion. The. germ of Sca«d4
was cast by Siva into the flame of Aoni^ the god of fire, who
being unable to sustain the increasing burthen, transferred it to
the goddess Gunga j she accordingly was delivered of the deity
ScANDA, who waft afterwards recetved and reared amongst
thickets of the Sara reed (saccharum saraj, by the six daughters
of a king named Critica, or according to other legends, by
the wives of seven great Rhhis or Saints : in either case, they
form in astronomy, the asterism of the Pleiades, Upon kil
coming to maturity, Scanda encountered and killed the demi^i^
who had filled the region of Inora with dismay. CeleetM
hostilities, and
...... Things to our thought
So unimaginable as hate in heaven^i
*^ And war so near the {dace of God in bliss,*'
form one of the many analogies between Greek and £R»idif iaiti.
<c
«
Note 90, page 39, verse 301.
MHum numUing phones, to love maternal dem*
Scanda, or Cartic^ya, is represented mounted upon a
peacock, and BaAVA^Ni^ we have already sten, is the wife of
ANNOTATIONS. 119
SivA; and half mother to this deity. We have also noticed
the frequency of the allusion to the delight tHe peacock is sup-
posed to feel upon the appearance of cloudy and rainy weather.
Note 91, page 39, verse 306.
The glorious tale of Rantidi^va's fame,
Rantid^va is the name of a king of the Chandrabans, or
family of the moon : from his peiformance of the Gomid'ha, or
sacrifice of the cow^ which is prohibited in the present period
of the worlds he must belong to one of the preceding yug& or
ages. I find in Sir Wm. Jones's lists (see his Chronology of
the Hindus, Asiatic Researches, vol. ii.), the eighteenth name
in the h'ne of the moon^ in the second age^ is Rantina'va^ and
as that is the only name resembling the appellation in our text,
it is perhaps a corruption or error for RANTinivA.
Note 92, page 40, verse 307.
Sprung from the blood of countless oxen shed.
The sacrifice of the horse or of the cow, the g6midha or
aswamidd, appears to have been common in the earliest periods
of the Hindu ritual. It has been conceived, that the sacrifice
was not real but typical, and that the form of sacrificing only
was performed upon the victim, after which it was set at liberty.
The text of this passage, however, is unfavourable to such a
noticMD, as the metamorphosis of the blood of the kine into a
river^ certainly implies that blood was diffused. The expression
H 4
120 ANNOTATIONS.
of the original, literally rendered, is, '^ sprung from the blood
'' of the daughters of Suribhi :'* that is, kine ', Suribhi being
a celebrated cow produced at the churning of the ocean, and
famed for granting to her votaries whatever they desired^
^' Daughter of Suribhi ** is an expression of common occur-
rence to denote the cow.
Note 93, page 40, verse 308.
jlnd a fair river through the regions spread.
The name of this river is not mentioned in the text of the
poem, but is said by the commentators to be the Charman*
vati; and such a name occurs in Major Wilford's lists from
the Purdnas, amongst those streams which seem to arise from
^e north-west portion of the Vind^hya mountains. The mo-
dem appellation of the Charmanvati is generally conceived to
be the Chumbul, which corresponds with it in course and situa-
tion, and which^ as it must have been traversed by the Gloud
in its northerly course, would most probably have been des-
cribed by the poet. It may be curious to trace the change of
Charmanvati into Chumbul, which seems very practicable, not-
withstanding their present dissimilarity. Tavemier, describing
the route from Surat to ^gra by way of Brampore, calls this
liver the Chammelnadi ; the possessive termination Vati, having
been confounded with Nadi, a river -, Chammelnadi is therefore
the Chammel river. Again, the addition Nadi, being regarded
fis superfluous, it has been dropped altogether^ and we have the
ANNOTATIONS. 121
Ckammel or Chambel, The word Chammel may readily be de-
duced from Charman, as in the dialects of Hindoastan, the letters
n and I are constantly interchangeable^ and careless pronun-
ciation may easily convert Charmel into Chammel, or ChamheL
Note 94, page 40, verse 310.
Lest drops ungenial damp the tuneful wires.
These two lines x>ccur a little earlier in the Sanscrit ; but as
they seemed more connected with the two following, and to be
rather awkward in their original position, they have been intro-
duced here.
Note 95, page 40, verse 315.
As clothed in sacred darkness not thine own.
Being of the same dark blue colour as Cbishna 3 a hue tbe
poet charges the cloud with having stolen.
Note 9^, page 40, verse 317.
A central sapphire, in the loosened girth.
This comparison, when understood, is happily imagined j but
to understand it, we must suppose ourselves above the Cloud,
and to be looking obliquely downwards upon its dark body, as
shining drops of rain form a continuous line on either side of it,
and connect it with the earth.
122 ANNOTATIONS.
Note 97, p«gc40, verse 320.
Of Ddsapura^sfair impart delight.
Ddsapura, according to its etymology, should mean a district $
that of the l«R citieB, It is said, however, by the Commentators
to be the name of a city, and by one of them, Mallina't'h to
be that of the city of Rantid^va : if he is correct, it may
possibly be the modem Rintimpore or Rantampore, especially as
that town, lying a little tq the north of the Chumbul, and in the
line from Oujein to Tahnesar, is consequently in the course of
the Cloud's progress, and the probable position of Ddsaptura,
Note 98, page 41, verse 325.
Such contrast as the lovely Cunda shews.
The Candu (jasminum pubescensj bears a beautiful white
flower, and the large black bee being seated in the centre of its
cup, they afford a very delicate and truly poetical resemblance to
the dark Iris and white ball of a full black eye.
Note 99, page 41, verse 327.
Hence to the land of BRxayi a* s favoured sons,
Brahmdvarta is the abode of Brahma^ or the holy land of
the Hindus: it is thus described by Menu, chap ii. Terse 17.
" Between the two divine rivers, Saraswati and DrtshadaiaH,
" lies the tract of land which the sages have named Brahmd"
*' verta, because it was frequented by the Gods."
ANNOTATIONS. 12S
Note 100^^ page 41> verse 928.
(Xer Curu'sfiLtul^id thy journey rum,
Cura^CshHra^ ihe field of the Cufus, is the scene ef the cete-
hrated battle between them aodthe Pandus^. which forms the
subject of the Mahdb*haraia ; It lies a little to the south-east of
Tahnesar, and is still a place of note and pilgrimage. It is not
far from Panniputy the seat of another celebrated engagement^
that between the assembled princes of Hindoostcm, and the
combined strength of the Mahrattas, This part of the comitry
indeed presenting few obstacles to the movement of large armies^
has, in every period of the history of Hmdoostan, been the
theatre of contention.
Note 101, page 41, verse 3S1.
There Arjun's wrcUh opposing armies felt,
Arjun was the friend and pupil of Crishna^ and the third
of the Pandava princes. He has been long ago introduced to
European readers^ especially in Mr. Wilkims*s masterly transla-
tion of the B'hdgamat G}ta, and appears in the opening of that
philosophical poem in a very amiable light. '* Alas ! that for
^ the lust of the enjoyments of dominion, we stand here ready
'* to murder the kindred of our own blood $ I would rather
patiently suffer that the spns of Dhsitarastra^ with their
weapons in their hands, shouki come upon me^ and unopposed
'' kill me unguarded in the field."
€€
124 ANNOTATIONS.
Note 102, page 41, verse 332.
And countless arrows strong GdndLva dealt.
A« the horses and swords of chivalry received particular
names, so the weapons of the Hindu knights have been similarly
honoured : Gdndiva is the bow of Arjun^
Note 103, page 41, verse 333.
Thick as thy drops, that in the pelting shower.
This verse has abundant analogies in western composition.
Thus, in Lucretius :
^' The lucid arrows of the day."
The '* sharp sleet of arrowy shower,*' of Miltok, and its
imitation by Gray,
'* Iron sleet of arrowy shower
" Hurtles in the dusky air,"
are passages well known.
Note 104, page 41, verse 335.
O'er Saraswati's waters wing your course.
The Saraswati, or as it is corruptedly called, the Sarsooty,
falls from the southern portion of the Himdlaya mountains, ancT
runs into the Great Desart, where the maps lose it. It flows
a little to the north-west of Curucsh^tra, and though rather out
of the line of the Cloud's progress, not sufficiently so to prevent
the introduction into the poem of a stream so celebrated and so
holy.
ANNOTATIONS. l25
Note 105^ page 41^ verse 338.
The ploughshare's migbty Lord here sought relief.
We have here the reason why the waters of the SaraswcUi are
ohjects of religious veneration. Balara'ma is the elder brother
of Cbishna: he is called La'ngaliya^ Halabhrit^ &c. from
his being armed with a ploughshare which he is said to have
employed as bills were formerly used^ for pulling his enemies
down from their horses^ &c. which enabled him then to dispatch
them with his club. Although Crishna took an active part in
the warfare between the Curus and Pandits, Balara'ma refused
to join either party, and retired into voluntary seclusion^ filled
with grief at the nature of the contest, deserting even, accord-
ing to Ca'lida'sa, the inebriating eyes of his wife.
Note 106, page 41, verse 339.
Erom kindred strife, and RivATi withdrew,
RivATi is the wife of Balara'ma. See the preceding note.
Note 107, page 42, verse 341.
Thy journey next o*er Canac'hata bends.
The name is Calac*hala in the original, but it more properly
is as given above. The meaning of the word, agreeably to a
forced etymology, is thus explained in the Gungddmdra Mahdt*
mya section of the Scanda Purdna : ^' fVhai man (kah) so wicked
'' (khalq), asnoUo obtain fn(i> future happiness i^m bathing there;
" thence the holy sages have called this Tirtha by the name oi
126 ANNOTATIONS.
*' Canac'hxda" It also occurs m tbris passage of the Heri Vansa
portion of the Mahab'harat, '' Gangddwdra, Canac'kala, and
'^ where the mpon impends/' and in both instances is applied
to the place where the Ganges descendis into the low gronnd of
Hindoostan, The name is still retained^ as appeats h^m the
testimony of an impartial witness^ Lieut. Wsbb^ in his survey
of the sources of the Ganges, a survey which has essenticilly
improved the geography of those regions : *' The party arrived
^' at Haridwdra and encamped at the village of Canac*Mla
*' (Kank'haljy on the west bank of the Ganges, at the distance
*' of about two miles from the fair.'* Asiatic Researches^ vol.
ii, page 449.
Note 108, page 42, verse 342.
Where Ja'hnu's daughter from the hills descends,
Ja'hnu*s daughter is Gu^jga' or the Ganges, which river,
'* after forcing its way through an extensive tract of 'mountain-
'' ous country, here first enterft on the plains." It is rather
extraordinary that Ca'lida'sa should have omitted the name of
Haridwdra (HurdtodtJ, and preferred Canat^hata-, especially as
the former occurs in the Purdnas, in the Scanda PutdHa, as
mentioned in the note, page 450, vol. ii. of the Reseie^dies';
and in this |>a8sage from the Matsya Purdna, cited in the
Purdna Sarvaswa : ^ The Ganges is every where easy df adbiei^,
** except in three piaoeft, H^aidwdra, Pray&ga, and her jMiCtioii
" wkh the wa." Ja%i^u is Hie nam* cf a sage, itbb it^on
ANNOTATIONS. 127
being disturbed in his devotions by the passtige of the river,
drank up its waters. Upon relenting, however, he allowed the
stream to re-issue from his ear, and the affinity of GuiIoa' to
the saint arises from this second birth.
Note 109, page 42, verse 343.
Whose lengthening stream to Sa'oar's virtue given.
The Ganges, according to the legend, was brought from hea-
ven, by the religious rites of Bhagirat'ha, the great grandson
of Sa'oar, who, as well as that king, had engaged in a long
series of acts of austerity, for the purpose of procuring the
descent of the river to wash the ashes of Sa'gar's sixty thou-
sand sons. The youths had been reduced to this state by the
indignation of Capila, a saint, whose devotions they had dis-
turbed in their eager quest of the horse that was to be the
victim of an Aswamid*ha by their ieither. Their misfortunes did
not, however, cease with their existence, as their admission to
Swerga depended, according to the instructions of Garuda,
upon the use of the water of the Ganges in the administration
of their funeral rites. ^ At this period, the Ganges watered the
plains of heaven alone, and it was no easy undertaking to induce
her to resign those for an humble and eatthly course. Sa'oar,
his son Ansuman, and grandson Dwilipa, died Without Mng
able to e^ct the descent of the heavenly streatti ; but his gr«at
grandson Bhagirat'ha was more foi^uttatlij and- his Idng con-
tinued austerities were rewarded by the fall of the Ganges, the
128 ANNOTATIONS.
liathiDg of the ashes of his ancestors with the holy water, and
the establishment of thern in the enjoyments of Swerga. The
whole story is told in the first Book of the Ramdyana, from
the 32d to the 35th section : see the Ramdyana with translation,
by the worthy and indefatigable missionaries, Messrs. Caret
and Marshman.
Note 110, page 42, verse 345.
She who with smiling waves disportive strayed.
The earth being unable to bear the sudden descent of so great
a river as the Ganges, Siva was induced, at the intercession of
B0A6iRAT*HA, to iuterpose his sacred head. Accordingly
GuNOA first alighted on the head of the deity, and remained
for a considerable period wandering amongst the tresses of his
long and entangled hair, to the extreme jealousy and displea-
sure, according to Ca'lida'sa, of the Goddess Gouri or Par-
VATi, SiVA*s consort. »
Note 111, page 42, verse 351.
Tky form like Indra*s Elephant displayed.
We have already noticed, that presiding deities are attached to
the various points of the compass, and that each of these deitieaf
is furnished with a male and female Elephant : amongst thes<^,
the most distinguished is AiraVata, the Elephant of Indra, in
his capacity of Regent of the East,
ANNOTATIONS. 129
Note 1 12, page 42, verse 354.
As where the Jumna mixes with the tide.
The waters of the Jumna or Yamuna, are described as much
darker than those of the Ganges at the point of their confluence,
from the circumstances of the stream being less shallow and less
discoloured with clay or sand. Occasionally, indeed^ the waters
of the Ganges there are so white from the diffusion of earthy
particles, that according to the creed of the natives, the river
flows with milk. The confluence of rivers always forms a sacred
spot in India ; but the meeting of the Ganges and Jumna, at
Prayaga or Allahabad, from the sanctity of both the currents,
and from the supposed subterraneous addition of the Saraswati,
is a plaqe of distinguished holiness.
Note 113, page 42, verse 355,
As Siva's Bull upon his sacred neck.
The Bull is the vehicle of Siva, and the animal of the god is
always painted of a milk-white colour.
Note 114, page 43, verse 360.
And the Musk Deer spring frequent from the caves. '
This animal is what is called the Thibet Musk, " but its fa-
" vourite residence is among the lofty Himalley (Himdlaya)
*' mountains, which divide Tartary from Hindx>ostan.'* See the
best account of the Musk Deer yet published, in Gladwin's
130 ANNOTATIONS.
Oriental Miscellany^ Calcutta, 1798> accompanied with accurate
drawings by Mr. Homb^ of the figure^ teeth^ hoofs^ &c.
Note 115^ page43> verse 361.
From writhing boughs should forest Jlames arise.
The conflagration of the woods in India is of frequent occur-
rence^ and the causes of it are here described by the poet. The
intertwining branches of the Saral (pinuslongifoliq), of the Bam«
bu^ and other trees^ being set in motion by the wind, their mu-
tual friction engenders flame 5 this spread abroad by the air^ and
according to the poet, by the thick tails of the Yac of Tartar^,
or Bos Grunniens (from which Chowries are made), readily com-
municates to the surrounding foliage, dried up by the heat of the
sun and exceedingly inflammable. The burning of a forest is so
well described in the Rttu Sanhdra, that I cannot avoid citing
the passage, although its length perhaps requires an apology.
Omitting a few repetitions and excrescences, it may be thus
translated :
'^ The forest flames 5 the foliage, sear and dry,
'^ Bursts in a blaze beneath the torrid sky ;
** Fanned by the gale, the fires resplendent grow
'* Brighter than blooming safflower*s vermil glow,
'' Brighter than mmiunCs fierceness, as they wind
'^ Around the branch, or shoot athwart the rind,
'^ Play through the leaves, along the trunk ascend,
'' And o*er the top in tapering radiance end.
ANNOTATIONS. 131
** The crackling Bambu nishing flames snrrotttid^
'' Roar through the rocks, and through the caves resound
'^ The dry blade fuel to their rage supplies.
And instant flame along the herbage flies ;
Like palest gold the towering ray aspires.
And wafting gusts diffuse the wasting fires.
Wide fly the sparks, the burning branches fall.
And one relentless blaze envelops all.**
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Note 1 1 6, page 43, verse 369.
So shall the Sdrabhas who thee oppose.
"The Sdrahha is a fabulous animal, described as possessing
eight Icigs, and of a fierce untractable nature ; it is supposed to
haunt these mountains especially.
Note 117^ page 43, verse 372«
fVhite as a brilliant smile, thy haUstenes Jly.
It is remarkable, that a laugh or smile is always compared to
objects of a white colour by Hindu writers.
Note 118, page 43, verse 373.
Next to the moimtain with the foot imprest.
The fancied or artificial print of some saint or deity, on hills
or detached stones, is a common occurrence in the creeds of the
East. The idea is not confined to the inhalntants of Hindoostan,
but is asserted similarly by those of Nepal, Ceylon, and J§va,
I 2
132 ANNOTATIONS.
as may be seen in Turner's journey to Nepal, Syme's Embassy
to Ava, &c. The Mussulmans also have the same notion with
respect to many of the Prophets 5 for they believe that the marks
of Adam's feet remain on a mountain in the centre ef Ceylon, and
that those of Abraham were impressed upon a stone which was
formerly at Mecca, and which he had used as a temporary scaf-
fold in constructing the upper part of the primary Caaba, A
number of similar stories may be found in Mirkhond, and other
Mohummedan ^uihoTS, TheHimdlaya mountains are the scene
of most of Siva's adventures^ his religious abstraction^ his love,
marriage^ &c. and the place here mentioned may have some
connexion with the Ghdi, and neighbouring hill at Haridwdra,
mentioned in Capt. Raper's account of the survey of the Ganges^
by the name of Haraca Pairi, the foot of Hara or Siva.
Note 119, page 44, verse 376.
Around the spot in pious circles go, '.
Circumambulating a venerable object or person, is a usual
mark of profound respect. In Sacontala, Canna thus addressee
his foster daughter on the eve of her departure : " My best be-
'^ loved, come and walk with me round the sacrificial fire.'*
And again, in the B.amayana, we have the same ceremony de« .
scribed thus : '' Hearing the words of Janaka, the four sup*
" porters of Raghu's race, previously placed according to the
^' direction of Vashis'tha, took the hands of the four damsels
** within their*s, and with their spouses, circumambulated the ^
ANNOTATIONS. 133
" fire, the altar, the king, and the sages." Ramayana with
Translation, 1, 60, 37.
Note 120, page 44, verse 386.
The swelling gale breathes sweetly through the canes.
The whistling of the wind in the hollow reeds, or Bambus,
may easily he conceived to afford the music of the pipe or flute,
of which it was the origin, if we may believe Lucretius :
And Zephyr, whistling through the hollow reeds,
Tauglit the first swains the hollow reeds to sound."
Good's Translation.
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Note 121, page 44, verse 387.
And frmn the lovely songsters of the skies.
The lovely songsters are the females of the CmnaroM, or demi-
gods attendant upon Cuv^ra, and the musicians of Swerga,
Note 122, page 44, verse 388.
Hymns to the victor of Tripura rise.
Tripura is the name of a city, or rather, as its etymology
implies, three cities collectively. These formed the domain of
a celebrated demon, or Asur, destroyed by Siva, and were
reduced to ashes by that Deity. According to the commenta«
tors, we have here a full and complete concert in honour of
MAHADiVA.
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134 ANNOTATIONSi
Note 123^ page 44» yerse 390.
And Crouncha's celebrated post telect.
I have not been able to make any thing of this pass or hole.
The original text states it to be on the very skirt of the snowy
mountain^ and calls it also '^ the gate of the geese,** who fly
annually this way to the Manasarcvara lake. Crouncha is des-
cribed as a mountain in the Mahabharai, and being personified,
is there called the son of Mavndca, A mountain, also called
Crouncha Mem, occurs in Mr. Wilford*s lists, amount those
mountains situated in the north. It must lie at some distance
from the plains, and perhaps the poet, by using the term
upatata, implies its relative situation with the loftiest part of
the range or proper snow-clad mountains.
Note 124, page 44, verse 392.
jind erst a hero's mighty arrows tore.
The Crouncha pass or defile in the Crouncha mountain, is said
to have been made by the arrows of Bhsigupati, or Parasu-
ra'ma, who was educated by Siva on mount Caildsa, and who
thus opened himself a passage from the mountains, upon the
occasion of his travelling southwards to destroy the Cshetrya
or military race. Pasasura'ma is an Avatar, or descent of
Vishnu, in the person of the son of the Saint Jamadagni ;
and this Saint being also descended from the celebrated sage
Bhrigu, his son is named Bhrigufati, or Chief of that race.
ANNOTATIONS. 135
Note 125, page 45^ verse 395.
The sable foot that Bali marked with dread.
The story of Bali and the Vamana^ or dwarf Avatar, has been
frequently repeated from the account of Sonnerat and the rela-
tions in the Asiatic Researches. As the former is not very prolix ^
it may be here inserted to save the trouble of further reference.
^^ The fifth incarnation was in a Bramin dwarf, under the name
'* of Vamen 5 it was wrought to restrain the pride of the giant
'* Bely. The latter^ after having conquered the Gods^ expelled
^' them from iS^orgon; he was generous^ true to hisword^ com-
'* passionate^ and charitable. Vichenou^ under the form of a
" very little Bramin, presented himself before him, while he
^^ was sacrificing, and asked him for three paces of land to
'' build a hut. Bely ridiculed the apparent imbecility of the
^' dwarf, in telling him, that he ought not to limit bis demand
*' to a bequest so triflings tbat bis generosity could bestow
^^ a much larger donation of land. Vajabn answered, that,
^* being of so small a stature, what be asked was more than
f' sufficient. The prince immediately granted his request, and
'' to ratify bis donation, poured water into his rigbt band, which
'^ was no sooner done, than the dwarf grew so prodigiously,
*^ that his body filled the universe ! He measured the earth
'' with one pace, and the heavens with another, and then sum*
*' moned Belt to give him his word for the third. The prince
*' then recognized VicHBNOU, adored him, and presented bis
'* bead to him ; but the God, satisfied with bis submission^ sent
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136 ANNOTATIONS.
''him to govern the Pcmdalon, and permitted him to retam
'' every year to the earthy the day of the full moon^ in the
" month of November.'* Sonnerat's Voyages in the £<u^«
Indies, Calcutta edition, vol. i. p. 22*
Note 126, page 45, verse 398.
Renowned Caildsa's venerated guest,
Caildsa, as it here appears a part of the Himdla range, is in
fable a mountain of costly gems or of crystal, the scite of
CuviBA*s capital, and the favourite haunt of Siva. I shall
borrow from the notes to Southey's Curse of Kehdma, a des-
cription of it from Bald^us, curious enough in itself, hot still
more so for its strange medley of accuri^cy and incorrectness,
and its uncouth transformation and commixture of the Sanscrit
names. " The residence of Ixora (Iswara) is upon the silver
mount Calaja (Caildsa), to the south of the famous mountain
Mahameru, being a most delicious place, planted with all sorts
'' of trees, that bear fruit all the year round. The roses and
'^ other flowers send forth a most odoriferous scent ; and the
'' pond at the foot of the mount, is inclosed with pleasant walks
'' of trees, that afford an agreeable shade, whilst the peacocks
*' and divers other birds entertain the ear with their harmonious
'* noise, as the beautiful women do the eyes. The circumjacent
'' woods are inhabited by a certain people called Munis or Rixis
" (Rishis), who, avoiding the conversation of others, spend
'* their time in offering daily sacrifices to their God.
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ANNOTATIONS. 139
" It is observable, that though these Pagans are generally
^' black themselves, they do represent these iZio^w to be of a
'* fair complexion, with long white beards, and long garments
*' hanging cross-ways, from about the neck down over the
'*• breast. They are in such high esteem among them, that they
" believe whom they bless are blessed, and whom they curse
'^ are cursed.
*' Within the mountain lives another generation, called Jera-
quinnera {Yacsha and Cinnara) and Quendra (Indra) who are
free from all trouble, and spend their days in continual con-
templation, praises, and prayers to God. Round about the
mountain stand seven ladders, by. which you ascend to a
^' spacious plain, in the middle whereof is a bell of silver and
'^ a square table, siu'rounded with nine precious stones of
*^ divers colours. Upon this table lies a silver rose, called Ta-
marapzui f^, which contains two women as bright and fair
as a pearl : one is called Brigasiri (?) i. e, the Lady of the
Mouth, the other Tarasiai (?) i. e, the Lady of the Tongue:
because they praise God with the mouth and tongue. In the
'^ centre of this rose is the triangle of Quivelinga (Siva'linga),
*^ which they say is the permanent residence of God.'* Baldjeus.
— The latter part of this description is quite new to the Pandks,
and I suspect is rather Mohummedan thdJi Hindu.
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Note 127« page 45> verse 402.
Shaken not sundered, stable though unstrung.
This alludes to a legend of Ra'vana*s having attempted to
remove the mountain from its situation : although be did not
succeed as well as Satan and his compeers^ when
From their foundations loosening to and fro
They plucked the seated hills^"
he considerably unhinged its foundations. The story perhaps
originates with the curious vibrating rock at Mahabalqmramt of
which it may be said^ as is observed by Sblden of Main-amber,
2. e, Ambrose's Stone in Cornwall, not far from Penzance, that
it is so great that many men's united strength cannot remove
it, yet with one finger you may wag it,"
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Note 128, page 45, verse 403.
Whose lofty peaks to distant realms in sight.
The lofty peaks of the Himdlaya range of mountains are very
justly stated by the poet to be visible to surrounding regions.
They are seen in the south, from situations more remote than
those in which any other peaks have been discerned, and the
supposition of their exceeding even the Andes in elevation, has
been confirmed by recent inquiries, which will become public
with the appearance of the twelfth volume of the Asiatic
Researches.
ANNOTATIONS. 139
Note 129, page 45, verse 408.
Thy glossy glooms metallic darkness spread*
The expression in the original may be rendered^ 'f shining
^' like antimony mixed up with oil,'* a mixture used for daiken*
ing the eye-lashes or the edges of the eye-lids, a practice com-
mon to the females of the East. It is also explained to mean
merely, '' black divided antimony 5** and the shining greyish
blue of the sulphuret of antimony, the substance alluded to,
may often be observed in the hue of heavy clouds.
Note 130, page 45, verse 4Q9.
jis shews a Halabhrita*s sable vest,
Halabhrita is a name of Balara'ma^ and implies, as has
been before explained, his use of a ploughshare as^.a weapon.
He is represented of a white colour, clothed in a dark blue vest,
and is thus alluded to in the introduction to the GUa Govindtn
of JayadeVa, thus translated by Sir Wm. Jonbs, in his Essay
on the Chronology of the Hindus, '^ Thou bearest oa thy bright
'* body a mantle shining like a blue cloud, or like the water of
^' the Yamuna, tripping towards thee through fear of thy fur-
" rowing ploughshare. Oh Ce'sava ! assuming the i^rjai ai S4r
*' lara'ma^ be victorious. Oh Heri ! Lord of the universe !'*
Note 131, page 46, verse 412,
In sport may Gouri with her Sivjk stray,
I have already noticed, that these aKMintains are the scene qC
140 ANNOTATIONS.
Siva's loves and sports : they may still be considered as his fa-
vourite haunts^ for some traces of him seem to start up in every
direction amongst them. See the late Travels to the Source of
the Ganges, and CoL Hardwicke*s Tour to Sirmagur.
Note 132, page 46, verse 420.
T7iy graceful form in sportive mischief whirl.
The meaning of this can only be readily conceived by those who
know what a Goolab posh is 5 a small vessel for sprinkling rose-
water, &c. In such a capacity is the Cloud to be used by the
youthful goddesses.
Note 133> page 46, verse 421.
While lightning gems around each wrist that wind.
The diamond and thunderbolt, according to Hindu notions,
are of one substance, and are called by the same appellation,
rajra. As the fall of the thunderbolt is usually followed by
rain, and may thus be considered as its cause, the propinquity
and the mutual friction of the same substance upon the wrists
of our young ladies, is in like manner supposed to occasion the
dispersion of the fluid treasures of the Cloud.
Note 134, page 46, verse 426.
Of heart as timid, as of purpose vain,
" Unsteady in their sports," is the literal expression of 'the
original } but the commentators dilate the sentiment in the man*
ANNOTATIONS. 141
ner here adopted. Our joint want of gallantry may find a pre«
cedent even in the poet of this science, for Ovid makes Hero
write thus to Leander :
'' Weak as her frame the tender virgin*s mind.*'
Note 135, page 47> verse 430.
Imbibe the dews of Mdnasa.
Mdnasa, Manasarovara, or commonly Man-sarour, is a cele-
brated lake situated in the centre of the Himdlaya mountains,
and was long said to be the source of the Ganges and BrahmapU"
tra rivers. With respect to the first of these, the statement has
been found to be erroneous, and we have no positive proofs of
its accuracy with regard to the latter. Some period has elapsed
since it was visited by Europeans, and the chief information pos«
sessed at present, has been derived from the vague reports of
Hindu pilgrims, the lake being of great note in their sacred
books, and an object of their veneration.
We here take leave of the geographical part of the poem,
which is highly creditable to Ca'lida'sa's accuracy, and now
come to the region of unmixed fable, the residence of Cuvi^ra
and his attendant demigods.
Note 136, page 47, verse 430.
A friendly veil round Airavata*s head,
Indra*8 elephant, ut supra. Note 111, page 128.
142 ANNOTATIONS.
Note 187, page 47, verse 432.
Whert hewenly trees with fainting blossoms blow.
Literally, '^ tbe Calpa trees," one of the fire kinds which
flourish in 1ndra*s heaycn. They are enumerated in the Amera
C6sha,
Note 138, page 47, rerse 434.
Behold the city of the Gods impend.
AUtea, the eapital of CuviRA.
Note 139, page 47, verse 440.
Whose soaring summits kiss the lofty skies.
I have availed myself of the aid of the commentaton to make
out this passage rather more fully than it occurs in the orighml,
and consequently more intelligibly to the English read^. iHie
poet describes the toilet of the Yacshinis, or female Ydeshas,
through the six seasons of the year^ by mentioning as the s^eut**
ed fioiff^rp, those peculiftr to each period. Thus the Loftis blooms
in Sarat, o^.the sultry season, two months of our autumn ; the
Cunda^ Cjasmmum pubescensj m Sisira, or the dewy seascm ^ the
Lod^h, a species of tree (symplocos racemosa, Rox.)i is in blos-
som in Himante, or winter j the Curuvaca fgomphnsna globosq),
in VasantOy or springs the Sirisha Cmmosasirisha), in the hot
months^ or Grishma ; and the Nipa, or Cadan^ (nauclea cadam^
baj, at the setting in of the rains. It is to the ceBimenttttors'
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ANNOTATIOIJA. 143
also^ that I am indebted for the sole occupation of the goddesses
being pleasure and dress : the fact is^
To sing, to dance.
To dress, and troll the tongae, and roll the eye,**
constitute a yery well-educated female, according to die customs
6f Hindoostan, We cannot help, however, being pleased With
the simplicity and propriety of taste, which gives to the graceful
ornaments of nature so prominent a part in the decoration of
feminine beauty.
Note 140, page 48, verse 458.
Jnd wvnesfrom grapes of heavenly growth distil.
So Milton, Paradise Lost, Book v, line''426«
** In Heaven the trees
'' Of life ambrosial fruitage bear, and vines
" Yield nectar,"
And again, line 835,
'' Rubied nectar flows,
** Fruit of delicious vines, the growth of Heaven.
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Note 141, page 48, verse 460.
Like stars that glvtter through the shades of night.
Thus Ben Johnson:
'' The starres that are the jewels of th^ m'ght."
144 ANNOTATIONS.
Note 142, page 49, verse 466.
Speak of fond maids, and wanderers from home, '
I have already mentioned, that the Hindus always send the
lady to seek her lover, and they usually add a very' reasonable
degree of ardour and impatience. Our poet, in another place^
compares the female so engaged to a rapid current 5 thus in the
Rttu Sanhdra:
'* Fast flow the turbid torrents, as they sweep
The shelving vallies to rejoin the deep.
And like the damsel, prodigal of charms,
" Who seeks impatiently her lover's arms,
*' Bound o*er each obstacle with headlong force,
*' And banks and trees demolish in their course."
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Note 143, page 49, verse 468.
The splendid lamp glows vivid through the night, '
The meaning is given more nearly in an Epigram in the ^
Anthology,
'^ Ludite, sed visiles nolite extinguere lychnos,"
I have indeed, in this place, concentrated, and in part omitted,
two verses of the original, as offensive to our notions of the
decorum of composition. ' I cannot admit, however, that
Hindu literature, speaking generally, is more liable to the re-
proach of indecency than that of Europe. Nothing can be
found in their serious works half so licentious as are many
passages in the writings of Ovid, Catullus, Profertius, and
ANNOTATIONS. 145
even the elegant Flacqus. To descend to modern tiines^
Ariosto and Boccacio amongst the Italians; Brantome^
Crbbiixok, Voltaire, La Fontaine, and the writera of
many recent philosophical novels, amongst the French, furnish
us with more than parallels for the most indelicate of the Hindu
writers. With respect ^o ourselves, not to go back to the days
in which " obscenity was tvit," we have little reason to reproach
the Hindus, with want of delicacy, when we find the exceptiona*'
ble, though elegant poetry of Little, generally circulated and
avowedly admired. We should also recollect the circumstances
of Indian society, before we condemn their authors for the
ungarbled expressions which we conceive to trespass upon the
boundaries of decorum. These authors write to men only 5 they
never think of a woman as a reader. Now, even in polished
European society, amongst men alone, conversation takes com-
monly greater liberties than any Hindu composition } and it
is fair to infer that, were our writings addressed only to the
male portion of society, they would partake of a similar
character. Extreme attention to flelicacy would, io that case,
be rcigarded as puerile or fastidious, it is so now in works of
6cience 5 and Gibbon and Hume seem to consider it so in histo-
rical writing : if, then, we were not apprehensive of sullying
those rainds, whose parity we are interested in preserving, the
breach of the rules of delicacy would take place to a greater
extent than it has done in works of imagination. I am not sure
that, were this to happen, the quantity of virtue in the world
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146 ANNOTATIONS.
would be much diminished ; what is natural, cannot be vicious ;
what every one knows^ surely every one may express ; and that
mind which is only safe in ignorance, or which is only defended
by decorum, possesses but a very feeble defence and impotentsecu-
rity. I have said more upon this subject than was perhaps ne-
cessary, but I am anxious that the Hindus should have justice
done to them, and not be held up to the world, as they have
been, by a mistaken, and I am afraid, a spiteful zeal, as
monsters of impurity.
Note 144, page 49, verse 469.
Or the soft glories of the lunar beam.
The moon gem, or Chandracdnta,
Note 145, page 49, verse 473.
The Lord of Love, remembering former woe.
This alludes to the fate which befel the Hindu Cupid upon
his assailing SivA, whom, at the desire of the Gods^ he inflamed
with the love of Pa'rvati. Siva, in his virrath, reduced the
little deity to ashes, by a flame from the eye in his forehead i
and although he was subsequently restored to animation, he is
here supposed to remain in dread of his former enemy. The
whole story is spiritedly told in Sir Wm. Jones's hymns to
Camdeo and to Duhga.
ANNOTATIONS. 147
Note 146, page 49, verse 477.
And wanton glances emulate the dart.
The eye darting arro wsr is an idea familiar to English poetry, as
ID these instances :
'^ Her eyes darted contagious fire."
Milton.
'' Her eyes carried darts ofjire,
" Feathered all with swift desire.**
Gr££N£*s Never too late,
" I mote perceive how in her glancing sight,
" Legions of loves with little wings did fly,
" Darting their deadly arrows fiery bright.'*
Spenser. Sonnet 16.
*' And those love-darting eyes shall roll no more."
PoPE*s Elegy.
Note 147, page 50, verse 484.
The painted floor, or gilded roof despoil.
It is customary amongst the Hindus, upon festival occasions,
to smooth and paint the ground on which worship is to be per^
formed, or the assembly to be held. As this spot is generally in
an open area within the walls of the house, a shower of rain is
of course very hostile to such decoration.
Note 148, page 50, verse 488.
And low to earth, the tall Manddra bends.
The Coral tree : Erythrina Indica,
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148 ANNOTATIONS.
Note i49> page 50, terse 490.
jind nurtures like a child , ,
Tender attachment to natural objects is one of tbe most
pleasing features in the poetical cbmpositions of the Hindus. It
is very frequently expressed, and perhaps in few places with
more beauty than in the Drama of Sacontala, where, upon
departing from the bower of her foster father, she bids adieu to
the plants she had carefully tended, and the orphan fawn she had
reared. The whole of this scene must be read with pleasure,
and may be classed with the departure of Goldsmith's village
family from Auburn, and the farewell of Eve to the bowers of
Paradise.
Note 150, page 50, verse 498.
The golden circle of a plantain grove,
Milton applies the epithet golden to the fruits of heaven at
often as Ca'lida'sa : thus in the fourth book, vrithin a few lines,
we have :
*' Blooming ambrosial fruit
<' Of vegetable goldr
And again,
** Others whose fruit burnished with golden rind,.
" Hung amiable, Hesperian fables true."
ANNQTATIONS. 149
N<3i|e 151, pag^ 51, yersc 5,01.
See where the clustering Mdd*havi entwines.
This creeper (gcertneria racemosa, or banisteria BengalensisJ
is often alluded to by the Poets for its superior elegance, and the
beauty of its red blossoms.
Note 152jj page 51, y^r«e^02.
And bright Curumca the wreath confines.
Curuvaca is the crimson Amaranth : the Sanscrit name is also
applied to a blue species of Barleria.
Note 153, page 51, verse 503.
Profuse, Asoca sheds its rc^dm^tfloujer,
Jonesia asoca: speal^ing of w^ch Sir Wm. J[ones says,
'^ The vegetable world scarcely exhibits a richer sight, than an
'* asocc^ tree in full bloom."
Note 154, page 51, verse 504.
And budding Chara adorns the bqwer*
A tree yielding a strong smelling flow'er (I^musops elengij.
Note 155, pagis 5il, verse 505.
These are my rivals ; for the one would greet.
These allusions refer to some particular notions of the Hindus
respecting the cdsara and asoca, which plants are said to
blossom upon being touched respectively by the face, or foot of
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150 ANNOTATIONS,
a female. The story is probably originally poetical; thus
Drayton^ in bis Shepherd's Serina, expatiates upon a similar
idea.
*' The verdant meads are seen^
*' When she doth view them^
*' In fresh and gallant green^
Straight to renew them :
And every little grass^
Broad itself spreadeth^
Proud that this bonny lass
*' Upon It treadeth."
Note 156^ page 51^ verse 512.
The blue-necked peacock to the summit Jlies,
The wild peacock^ although it lays its nest upon the ground,
is said by Capt. Williamson to roost constantly on the loftiest
trees.
Note 157, page 51, verse 514.
My fair awakens from her tinkling zone,
A girdle of small bells is a favourite Hindu ornament ; also
silver circles at the ancles and wrists, which emit a ringing
noise as the wearer moves.
ANNOTATIONS. 151
. Note 158, page 51, verse 518.
CuviRA*s treasures; that abode is mine,
'^ .... Thick with sparkling oriental gems
*' The portal shone." Paradise Lost, book iii, line 507.
For such Cuv^RA^s nine treasures are sometimes supposed to be.
Rdmdsrama, commenting upon Amera, thus enumerates them
from the Sabddmava. " The Padma, Mahapadma, Sanc'ha,
'' Macara, Cach'hapa, Mucunda, Nanda, NUa, and C*harva, are
*' the nine Nid'his" The Sabda Retnavali also has the same
reading. In Hemachandra and the Sabda Mdla, cunda is sub-
stituted for nanda, Nid'hi is the generic name, but how it
should be. rendered into English, I am not prepared to say.
Mr. CoLEBRooKE calls the particular Nid'his, auriferous gems :
see his Translation of the Amera C6sha, Some of the words
bear the meanings of precious or holy things ; thus Padma is
the lotus, San&ka the shell or conc'h : again, some of them
imply large number 3 thus Padma is 10,000 millions, emd Ma-
hapadma is 100,000 millions, &c. but all of them are not re-
ceived in either the one or the other acceptation. We may
translate almost all into things, thus, a lotus, a large lotus, a shell,
a certain fish, a tortoise, a crest, a mathematical figure used by
the Jainas, Nila refers only to colour, but C'harva, the ninth,
means a dwarf. Mr. Kinderslby, translating through the me-
dium of the Tamul, has called eight of CuviRA's gems, the
coral, pearl, cat's eye, emerald, diamond, sapphire, ruby, and
topaz: the ninth he leaves undetermined. In Dr. Hunter's
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152 ANNOTATIONS.
Dictionary I find one on}y of the nine in the Uindoostanee Ian*
guage^ Neelum or Neelmun, derived from rdlamani, a blue gem,
and interpreted the sapphire, (Tadmartmga) Padma-colout means
a ruhy, and possibly the Padnia may be the same; perhaps
cach'hapa th^ tortoise, means tortoise-shell, and macwra may bt
an error for maraca or niaracata, an emerald, or it may hnpl^
the same stone from the green colour of the fish : these, how-^
ever, are mere conjectures. Agreeably to the system oi the
Tantricas, the Nidhis are personified^ and upon certain ooca-
sions> as upon the worship of Lacshmi, the Goddess of Pros*
perity^ &c. come in for a share of religious veneration; they
have also their peculiar mantras or mystical verses.
Note 159, page 52, verse 522.
Faint are the chaimis the Camala displays.
The Camala is a name of the lotus.
Note 160, page 52, verse 530.
Where the bright fire^jly wings his glittering way.
The fire-fly presents a very beautiful appeai'ance, as its soft'
and twinkling light is contrasted with the d6ep shade of the
bushes, in which it may be seen in great numbers during the
wet season. The phenomenon is common to the East aod
the West Indies, and it may be amusing to see the e£fect pro-
duced by it on di£ferent persons and at different periods, Moore,
meeting with it in America, writes some elega1:it stanzas on the
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ANNOTATIONS. 155
subject, and adds to the lightness of his verse, the sbKdity of
prose, in the authority of this note, f' The lively and varying
'^ illumination with which these fire-flies light up the woods at
night, gives quite an idea of enchantment. Puis ees mouches
se ddveloppant de Vobscuritd de ces arbres, et s'approchani de
*' nous, nous les voyions sur les Grangers voisins, qu*iUmetioient
*' tout en feu, nous rendant la vue de leurs beaux fruits , que la
" nuit avoit ravie, 8fc.** — L'Histoike des Antilles. See
Moore's Odes and Epistles. We have now to hear the des-
cription of a traveller of 1672, the learned and very devout
Johannes Fryer, M.D,
" The next day, at twelve o'clock at noon, we struck into
'* our old road at Moorbar, from whence before we were mis-
" guided. We packed hence by five in the afternoon, and left
*^ our burnt wood on the right hand, but entered another made
" us better sport, deluding us with false flashes^ that you
" would have thought the trees on a flame, and presently, as
" if untouched by fire^ they retained their wonted verdure.
** The Coolies btheld the «ight with horror apd amiattment, and
*< were consulting to set me down, and;8hiftfor themselves 5
'* whereof being informed, I cut hoo or three with my sword,
'* and by breathing a vein, let Shitan (the Devil) out, who was
^' crept into their fancies, and led them as they do a startling
*' jade, to smell to what their wall-eyes represented amiss ;
" where we found an host of flies, the subject both of our
** fear and wonder, which the sultry heat and moisture had
154 ANNOTATIONS.
*
*' generated into being, the certain prodromus of the ensuing
'^ rain, which followed us from the hills.
'^ This gaye my thoughts the contemplation of that mira-
'* culous bush crowned with innocent flames, that gave to Moses
80 pleasant and awful a prospect ; the fire that consumes every
thing seeming rather to dress than offend it.'*
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Note 161, page 52, verse .532.
The first best work of the Creator's hands.
Literally, the first creation of Brahma': and^rs^ may refer
to time, or to degree 3 it most probably here means best. So
Milton, speaking of Eve,
'^ Oh fairest of creation, last and best
** Of all God's works." Paradise Lost, book ix, line 896.
We now enter upon perhaps the most pleasing part of this
elegant little poem, the description of the Yacsha's wife. I may
perhaps come under the denomination of those who, according
to the illiberal and arrogant criticism of such a writer as a
Mr. PiNKERTON, prove, '^ that the climate of India, while it
** inflames the imagination, impairs the judgment," when,
standing in very little awe of such a poetical censor, I advance
an opinion, that we have few specimens, either in classical or
modem poetry, of more genuine tenderness or delicate feeling.
ANNOTATIONS. 155
Note 162^ page 52, yerse 535.
Whose teeth like pearls, whose lips like Bimbos show.
The Bimba (bryonia grandis) bears a red fruit, to which the
lip is very commonly compared.
Note 163, page 53, verse 537.
Lone as the widowed Chacravdci mourns.
The Chacravdci is the ruddy goose (anas casarcaj, more com-
monly known in India by the appellation Brahmany Duck or
Goose, These birds are always observed to fly in pairs during
the day, but are supposed to remain separate during the night.
In the Hindoostanee Philology of Messrs. Gilchrist and Roe-
buck, an amusing account of the popular belief on this subject
is thus given, *' This bird, in the poetry of the Hindus, is
^' their turtle dove, for constancy and connubial affection, with
^^ the singular circumstance of the pair being doomed for ever
" to nocturnal separation, for having offended one of the Hindu
*' divinities (Munis or saints) : whence,
^^ Mark heaven's decree, and man forbear
'^ To aim thy shafts or puny thunder
'^ At these poor fowls, a hapless pair,
'^ Who pass the lonely nights asunder.
'* If we believe popular tradition and assertions, the cause is so
'' far confirmed by the effect observable in the conduct of these
'^ birds to the present day, who are said to occupy the opposite
156 AmiOriATlONS.
*' banks of a water^ or stream^ regafairly erery evenings and
" exclaim the live loDg night to each other, thus :
^' Say shall I come> my dear> ta thee^
*' Ah no indeed that cannoit be ;
*^ But may I wing my love to you,
^* Nay, chuck, alas, this will not do.*'
Note 164, page 55, verse 540L
Half of my soul, and piirtner of my Hfe.
So Milton,
^^ Part of my soul, I seek thee and thee claim,
" My other half." ;
*^ My second existence/' are the words of the original ; and tb«
other expression, ^^ my half," is not more uncommon in SamcrU
than in western poetry. Thus these tender^ and as Mrs. Mala-
PROP thinks^ profane expressions of endearment, seem to have
obtained a very extensive circulation. My life, my soul, are
common to most of the European languages ^ and the most
frequent epithet by which a mistress is addressed in Persian or
Hindoostanee, jdn, is of a similar import. Amongst the Ro-
mans, vita and anima were used in the same manner^ or even
in the temperate warmth of friendship, as Horace calls Virgil,
" Half of my soul,"
And Fropbrtius, addressing his mistress, calls her his life :
" I'll burst, my Hfe, the brazen chains."
We may suppose the Romans ilerived these pretty words from
ANNOTATIONS. 157
the Greeks; and iBcleed^ as we learn from Juvenal^ vi. 194,
they were very fond of employing, thbugh not in the most
becoming manner, the original terms, Zuri xai ^J^X't, the Eng'
lish translation of which has i>een given at some length, by Mrs.
TiGHB, in her poem of Psyche, and with some addition by
Loixl Byron in his Anglo-Greek song, the burthien of which is
the old sentiment in a modem antique sbape, or my life, I love
you, in the Zan fiH ca^ offaitda of the Greek of the Morea.
Note 165, page 53, verse 541.
Nipped by chill sorrow, as the flowers enfold.
So in Lord Lyttleton's Monody :
'' A sudden blast from Appennvnus blows,
** Gold virith perpetual snows ;
** The tender blighted plant shrinks up its leaves and dies."
Note 166, page 53, verse 543.
I view her now ! long weeping swells her eyes.
In this she resembles the LesUa of Catullus:
" Her swollen eyes are red with weeping."
Note 167, page 53, verse 550.
And sacred sacrifice augments her woes.
Thus Laodameia to Prot^silaus, in Ovip :
*' We ofler incense up, and add our tears."
The commentators, however, are not agreed how to interpret
158 ANNOTATIONS.
this! passage in the original text, valivydkuld, nor the expression^
nvpatatvpuri, '' She falls hefore thee :** they seem, however, to
conceiYe it means, that the approach of the Cloud reminding her
of its being the period at which absent hasbands usually retam
home ; she recollects that the return of her own lord is pro-
scribed, and therefore either falls in a swoon, or with excess
of affliction. The sacrifice is to be performed to render the Gods
propitious, or it is a sacrifice called kdkavali, usually performed
by women at the beginning of the rainy season. Some inter-
pret purd " in the city,'* not ** before, in front.*'
Note 168, page 53, verse 554.
And tells the tuneful Sdricd her grief.
The Sdricd (gracula religiosaj is a small bird> better known by
the name of Maina. It is represented as a female^ while the
Parrot is described as a male bird } and as these two have, in all
Hindu tales, the faculty of human speech^ they are constantly
introduced, the one inveighing against the faults of the male
sex, and the other exposing the defects of the female. . They
are thus represented in the fourth story of that entertaining
collection, the Buetal Pucheesee,
Ladies have always been distinguished for maintaining pet ani-
mals, and the fancy seems to have been equally prevalent in the
east and west, and in ancient or modern times. The swallow of
Lesbia, Passer delicuB mecs puelUe, may rival the Sdricd of the
wife of the Yacsha, and Bullfinch of Mrs. Throckmorton : sec
Cowfsr's Poems.
ANNOTATIONS. 159
Note 169> page 54, verse 557.
In vain the lute for harmony is strung.
The lute is here put for the Veena or Been, a stringed instru-
ment of sacred origin^ and high celebrity amongst the Hindus*
In Bengal, however, players on this instrument are very rarely
met with, and amongst the natives of this province the English
fiddle is its substitute. In the Jatras, or Dramatic performances,
still current amongst them, I have seen the entrance of Na'reda,
the traditionary inventor of the Veena, bearing in its stead a
violin. The Veena is much the most harmonious and scientific
of all the Hindu instruments of music 3 a description of it may
be found in the first volume of the Asiatic Researches.
Note 170, page 54, verse 538.
And round the robe-neglected shoulder slung.
Robe-neglected is here put for dirty clothes ^ ' so Laodameia
says,
'' And with my squalid vesture ape thy toils."
Note 171, page 54, verse 560.
Our race's old commemorative strain,
*^ The verse made in honour of my kindred :" a circumstance
that points out some affinity to the songs of the ancient min-
strels and family bards.
liO ANNOTATIONS.
Note 171, page 54, verse 568.
As widowed wives in cheerless absence find,
- So in Hero's epistle to Leander :
** With arts^ as women use^ we cheat the lazy time.*'
Note 173, page 54, verse 570.
That graced with monthly piety the door.
The Hindus pay a species of adoration to many inanimate ob-
jects : amongst others the door- way, or door*post, receives such
homage as is rendered by hanging up a flower or a garland theve
once JBi month.
Note 174, page 55, verse 576,
But much, I dread, a bitterer night succeeds.
So Catullus :
*' The day is bitter now, but bitterer still
*' Will be night's shadows "
Note 175, page 55, verse 582.
And waking now, his absence to deplore.
In the Uth Idyl of Theocritus, we have the same circum-*
stances stated :
'^ You come when pleasing sleep has closed mine eye,
*^ And like a vision with my slumbers fly."
Fawkes's TranslaHon,
ANNOTATIONS. Ifii
In the translation of the Sanscrit, 1 have here intermixed two
stanzas and part of a thirds and slightly altered the arrange*
ment.
Note 176^ page 56^ verse 591.
Firm winds thejillet, as itjirst was wove.
The V^i is a braid> into which the long hair oiXhtHindx)ostanee
women is collected^ when they have lost their husbands : the
dancing girls also wear their hair in thi$ manner. Neglecting
the ornament of this part especially, has been in all ages, ejtcepi
the present perhaps, an indication of grief. ' We hqiye thus in
Ovid:
" Nor yield I now my tresses to the comb."
Theo<?ri.tus takes the hair off entirely from one of his amorous
damsels^ Idyl 2, 89.
*' Sooa from my cheeks the crimson colour fled,
. ^' And my fair tresses perished on my head :
** Forlorn I lived, of body quite bereft,
^f For bones ai^d skin were all that I had left.*'
Fawkbs*s Translation,
Note 177, page 56> verse 607.
For the s<^ breast is swift to oversow.
This sentiment is rather dilated from the original, which
says, '' a soft heart is always the abode of compassion**' The
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162 ANNOTATIONS.
tenor however is given in the translation, and may be the
meaning of Tibullus, when he expresses himself thus :
Sure thou wilt weep ;
For well I know, nor flint nor ruthless steel
Can arm the breast of such a gentle maid.'* Grainger.
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Note 178, page 57, verse 615.
0*er her left limbs shM glad pulsations pUty,
. Palpitations in the left limbs, and a throbbing in the left eye,
are here described as auspicious omens, when occurring in the
female : in the male, the right is the auspicious side, cor-
responding with the ideas of the Greeks, thus described by
Potter :
*^ The third sort of internal omens were the Ila^uol or
'^ Ila}^lJi,iKa olml<rfJLalay so called utto ri 7raK><siv from palpiiating.
'^ Such were the palpitations of the heart, the eye, or any of
" the muscles, called in Latin, saltaiiones, and Bo/iCof, or a
^' ringing in the ears, which in the right-ear was a lucky omen.
^' So abo was the palpitation of the right*eye, as Hieocriiui
*' telleth us :
*' My right eye-twinkles."
Note 179, page 58, verse 627.
Where her fond arms, like winding shrubs she flings.
Thus in Shakbspear*s Midsummer NighVs Dream :
'^ So doth the woodbine the sweet honey suckle ',
ANNOTATIONS. 163
** Gently entwist, the female ivy so
*' Enrings the barky fingers of the elm.*'
Note 180, page 58, verse 630.
Fair as the flower that opening buds adorn.
The commentators have taken great pains to explain this
allusion to the flower, or in the original the Malati, a kind of
jasmin : their labour is however very idle, as the comparison
has always been familiar to poetry. Thus Catullus calls a
lady :
*' Like the white Parthenice, or yellow poppy."
And Chaucer has,
*' That Emilie that fayrer was to scene,
" Than is the lily upon his stalk greene.**
Note 181, page 58, verse 641.
Such tasks are mine : where absent lovers stray.
This allusion has been explained in the Note on verse 20,
page 71.
Note 182, page 58, verse 644.
" New hopes the braid of absence to unbind,"
The braid of absence is the VM, See Note on verse 591,
page 161.
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164 ANNOTATIONS,
Note 183^ page ^9^, verse 645.
As beauteous Mait^uili with glad surprize,
Mait^hili is a name of Sita, derived from MiVhila, tlie
place of her nativity^ and the modem Tirhut, The allusion
relates to the discovery of her in Lanca, by Ra'ma's envoy,
Hanuhan^ the monkey chiefs said to be the son of the wind*
Note 184, page 59, verse 652.
Scarce less than mutual meeting to the heart.
They have a proverb similar to this in the Hindoostanee Ian-'
guage, ^^ a letter is half a meeting.'* ^ The expression is com-
mon in the poetry of the Rekhtu, and occurs in a Ghuzul hf^
JiRAT. It also exists in the ^ra6ic language, and is thus given
in one of the exercises of Capt. Lockett*s translation of the
Meeut Amil and the Shereh Meeut Amil, or an Arabic Grammar
and Commentary: " Correspondence, they say, is half an
interview."
Note 185, page 59, verse 660.
On every creature of our passing state.
It is to be recollected here,- that even these heavenly beings
are of a perishable nature, and subject to the infirmities of
existence : the whole are swept away at each Maha prala^a, or
destruction of the universe,
*' Which, like the baseless fabric of a vision,
'^ Leaves not a wreck behind."
ANNOTATIONfi. 165
Note 186, page 60, verse 679.
Mild as thy dieeks, the moon*s new beams appear.
Comparing a beautiful fac6 to the. moon has been supposed
peculiar to oriental poets $ instances, however, maybe found
in English verse. Perhaps that passage in Popr> where speaking
of an amiable female and the moon, he says, '^ Serene in
" virgin modesty she shines," may not be Cixactly in point,
although the general idea is similar. Spenser, however^ is
sufficiently precise :
*' Her spacious /ore/iead, like the clearest moon,
^' Whose full grown orb begins now to be spent,
'* Largely displayed in native silver shone,
'^ Giving wide room to Beauty* s regiment."
Note 187, page 61, verse 682.
But only view combined these charms in thee.
This turn of the compliment, closely faithful to the original,
conveys a high idea of the gallantry of a fim({«.ba]fd3 and as
this gallantry cannot be the ten times repeated retail of romantic
folly, or chivalrous frenzy, it may be cdnsidered as the natural
expression of unsophistidated tendemesa. We have in these
lines a complete deseription of beaoty^; agreeably to Hindu
fancy 3 and I do not think theserics of coihparisons vrill much
suffer, by being contrasted with any similar series in classical or
modern writers. I am not aware, indeed, that so continued
and simple a strain of imagery is often to be found in the latter^
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166 ANNOTATIONS.
and it may be doing them an injustice to bring fonviiLrd, at
analogous, a passage and its imitations, which is certainly of
inferior beauty. To begin with Pope :
Sylvia*% like autumn ripe, yet mild as May,
More bright than morn, yet fresh as early day.**
This, as well as the rest of the Pastoral, is borrowed from
Theocritus, Ovid, and Virgil. In the 7th Eclogue of the
latter poet, these comparisons occur :
'^ Oh Galatea, nymph than swans more bright,
*' More sweet than thyme, more fair than ivy white.**
Warton.
This^is an imitation of Theocritus, in his 11th Idyl:
'* Softer than lambs you seem, than curds more white,
*' Wanton as calves before the uddercd kine,
'* Bright as the unripe fruitage of the vine.**
Fawkes.
Ovid also has imitated and amplified this same passage, Meta*
mor. Book 13, which Pryden hasi translated, and mach im-
proved :
" Oh lovely Galatea, whiter far
'^ Than falling snows and rising lilies are,
" More flowery than the meads, as crystal bright,
'* Erect as alders, and of equal height 5
'' More wanton than a kid 5 more sleek thy skin
" Than orient shells, that on the shore arc seen ;
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ANNOTATIONS. 167
Than apples fairer when the boughs they lade j
Pleasing as winter sun^ or summer shade :
More grateful to the sight than goodly plains,
*' And softer to the touch than down of swans,
'^ Or curds new turned ^ and sweeter to the taste
** Than swelling grapes that to the vintage haste 5
** More clear than ice, or running streams that stray
*■' Through garden plats, but ah ! more swift than they.**
Ovid's description is very much in the style oi Persian poetry,
and infinitely less appropriate, less simple, and less delicate than
the passage above. We may add another specimen of perhaps
superior merit, from one of that school which can never be too
highly rated : the Lover, in one of Ford's dramas, thus de-
scribes his miistress.
'^ View well her face, and in that little round
You may observe a world of variety.
For coral, lips 5 for sweet perfume, her breath ;
For jewels, eyes j for threads of purest gold,
'* Hair 5 for delicious choice of flowers, cheeks ',
*' Wonder in every portion of that form.**
Note 188, page 61, verse 685.
When %D\Jt'h the colours that the rock supplies,
*' Having painted you with mineral colours 5" that is, accord-
ing to the commentators, with red chalk, &c. Our very limited
acquaintance with the high land, which is the scene of the YaC"
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les ANNOTATIONS.
sha's exile, prevents our specifying the mineral substances which
he may be supposed to have employed : the expression in 'the
text, however, is one of many circumstances that render it pro-
bable, that the mountains which run across the northernmost
part of the Peninsula, are rich in the objects of mineralogical
inquiry. We know that copper-mines have been discovered in the
eastern extremity of them, the ore of which is very productive.
The Salagram stones, or Ammoniteg, are found iii the Narmada,
and the several kinds of Macshicas, a class of ores not yet inves-
tigated, are usually called Rwer-bam, and Tapti-bom, in refer-
ence to their being found in the course of the Tapti river.
Note 189, page 61, verse 691.
Why should the god who wields the five^fold dart,
Ca'madeva, the Hindu Cupid, is represented as the Eios of
the Greeks, armed with a bow and arrows. These weapons are
of peculiar construction and most poetically formed : the bow is
of sugar cane, the bow-string consists of a line of bees, and
the arrows are tipped each with a separate flower. The weapons
and application of the allegory will be best explained by a verse
in Sir Wm. Jones's hymn to this deity.
'^ He bends the luscious cane, and twists (he string
" With hees how sweet, but ah ! how keen their sting :
*' He with Jive Jlowrets tips the ruthless darts,
'' Which through five senses pierce enraptured hearts :
ANSfOTATJOSrS. 169
*' Strong Chumpa rich in odorous gold^
'^ WnTm Area nursed in heavenly mould,
'^ Dry Nagesar in silver smiling,
'^ Hot KriticUm our sense heguiling,
*' And last to kindle fierce the scorching flame,
" Love shaft, which gods bright B^la name."
In the Romaunt of the Rose there is something of a similar
allegory : Cupid is armed with '* ten brode arrows,'* of which
" five where shaven well and dight,** and of a nature to produce
virtuous attachment ; while the other five, '^ also black as fiend
in hell,*' were Pride, Villaine, &c. and of pernicious properties.
Note 190, page 62, verse 699.
And where the spirits of these groves attend.
St'hali D^atas are. literally the deities of the soil; so com-
pletely has Hindu, like Grecian faith; peopled inanimate nature.
Our poetical creed is addicted to a similar practice, as in the
beautiful modern imitation of the ancient drama, Tobin's
Honey Moon, where ZamjOra eitlslms,
" And if, as some believe,
" There is a spirit in the waving woods j
'* Life in the leaping torrent *, in the rocks,
'^ And seated hills, a contemplative soul,
^' Brooding on all things rouiid them ;
*' Here, to all nature, I repeat my vow,
<' Never to love but you."
170 ANNOTATIONS.
Note 191, page 62, verse 702.
That clasp in blissfitl dreams thy fancied charms ^
" She whom I love> in sleep appears,
*' And soothes my grief, and cahns my fear».**
Mbtastasio. CamtaJta.
Note 192, page 62, verse 703.
Flay throv^h the air, and fold m fond embrace.
So poor Olympia, in Ajliosto,
** And here one arm, and there the other tost.** '
And with as much success as jEneas, ^
*' Thrice round her neck my eager arms I threw,
" Thrice from my empty arms the phantom flew.**
Pitt.
Note 193, page 62, verse 710.
Has \Jt not touched ; does it not breathe of thee ?
We have here another elegant and tender compliment^ in a
strain even superior to the similar thought in Bbk Jon80k*s ad-
mired little Ode from the Greek,
'' But thou thereon didst only hreathe,
'' And sent it back to me,
" §ince when it looks and smells, I swear,
'' Not of itself, but thee.**
ANNOTATIONS. 171
Note 194, page 63, verse 717.
Let then my firmness save ikee from despair.
We are scarcely prepared for this suddeo fortitude of the
Yacsha, but it is not by any means unnatural : the task of con-
«oling partners in affliction necessarily diverts the mind from
its own distress. The lofty reliance upon one's self, here re-
commended> is analogous to the advice given by the dream
'which Jupiter sends to Agamemnon. Homer* s Iliad,
Book ii.
" Do you rely upon your own mind."
Or it is something in the manner of a passage in the elegant
foem of Catullus, addressed to Himself:
*' Trust to thyself, on strength of soul rely,
*' And hostile Gods and wretchedness defy."
-Goldsmith* s Traveller winds up with morality of this descrip-
tion, when he remarks :
'^ Still to ourselves in every place consigned,
** Our own felicity we make or find.*'
Milton* s strain, however, in Satan*s sublime apostrophe to
Hell^ is still more elevated:
'' Hail, horrors, hail 1 and thou, profoundest Hell,
'^ Receive thy new possessor : one who brings
*' A mind not to be changed by place or time -,
*' The mind is Us oum place, and in itself
'^ Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.*'
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172 ANNOTATIONS.
Reference to th^s noble principle is very frequent in the
writings of the Hindus. The Atmana Bddha, or Knowledge of
Spirit, a small treatise which contains the ethical part of the
Vedanta philosophy^ and which has been lately ^ translated and
published by Dr. Taylor, condudes with this stanza: *' He
'^ who has made the pilgrimage of his own spirit^ a pilgrimage
*' in which there is no concern respecting situation, place, or
time^ Mdirch is every where ; in which neither cold nor heat
are experienced, which bestows perpetual happiness and free-
*' dom from sohrowj he is withont action, knows all things,
'' pervades all things, and obtains eternal beatitude."
A fine passage, inculcating the same feeling, occurs in Menu,
where the legislator exhorts a witness to speak the truth. " The
soul itself is its own witness, the soul itself is its own refuge $
offend not thy conscious soul, the supreme internal witnesi
^' of men.'* Sir Wm. Jones's Translatum,
Note 195, page 63, verse 720.
The olwaya wretched, always blest, are few.
We have here a fine tone of morality, in which the writings
of the Hindus are generally very abundant. The vicissitudes of
fortuue have been commented on much in th^ same strain by a
great variety of poets, amongst whom the Sanscrit bard is en-
titled to a pre-eminent station. Several passages, and indeed
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<<
ANNOTATIONS. 173
whole poems, de Fortund, are given in Bubmannus } as thus
in Epigram 143, hy Ausonius :
*^ Fortune in one position ner^ stays»
** But stiU unceasing and unwearied strays^
*' And still: diversifies each human state,.
** Exalts the lowly, or subverts, the great/'
Again, in the same eollectlon, we meet with Fortune's wheel :
*' No trust in Fortune's favour should' St thou fed,
*' When least expected, id ! she whirls her wheel**
TifiULLus consoles himself with a sin»kr>reflection :
*' Fate round the world is driven on whii'ling whceK"
Note 196, page 63, verse 724.
Sdrangi rises from eeUstial sleep.
The serpent couch is the great snake Aitakta, upon which
Vishnu, or as he is here called, the holder of the bow Samga
(the horn-bow), reclines during four months, from the llth of
Ash&ra to the 1 Ith of Cartic, or as- it has poeorred in thfs year
(1813), from the 23d June to the 26th of October^ Tlie skep
of VisftNtr, durifig'the four months of the petiodioal rains in
Hindodstafif seems to bear an emblematical rektion to that sea«
son. It has been compared* to the Egyptian hieroglyphical ac«
count of the sleep of HaKvs,' typical >of the aiinuiil overflow of
the Nile, by the late Mr. Patebson^ in his ingcnioue Essay on
the Origin of th^£Zi»dli lllllgio^,> Asiatrd Researches,, vol. viii*
174 ANNOTATIONS.
Note 197, page 64, verse 740.
Subvert thy faith, nor teach thee to despcar.
This passage may either be explained^ *' do not lose your
'* trust in mc," or " do not break your faith with me." We
may, indeed, conceive the two sentiments to bJe inyolyed in
each other, as they are in this passage :
'' Do slanderous tongues my truth impeach,
*^ And can they gain Ib£ne*s ear ?
'* Do not a thousand trials teach
*' How firm my faith ? then vain their speech,
*^ She knows my heart, and vainer still my fear,"
Metastasio. Cantatcu
Note 198, page 64, verse 748.
Nor ask that promise, nor expect reply. .
We cannot help pausing here to remark the ingenuity of tin
poet in the conduct of his work. He sets out with excusing
the apparent absurdity of the Yacsha's addressing himself to a
Cloud as to a rational being, by introducing a pleasing and
natiural sentiment, see verse 32. The Clpud has now received
his -charge, and something is expected by way of reply, expres-
sive either of refusal or assent. To have given the Cloud any
thing like the faculty of speech, would have been straining
probability over-much, and we see in the above lines^ with
what neatness Ca'lida'sa has extricated himself firom the
dilemma.
ANNOTATIONS. 175
Note 199, page 65, verse Ihl*
Shrunk like the bud at dawn, relief impart.
Thus Ovid, in his Tristia :
So may on thee propitious fortune wait.
Nor may*8t thou need such aid, nor mourn so sad a fate.*'
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THE END.
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